Friend and Foe
by MKLlim
Summary: “It is said that you are accompanying the notorious pirate Fire Fist Ace. That alone is already a great offense to your record.” he jeered. “A perfectly respectable person like me, traveling with a pirate? How DARE you suggest such a thing? she answered.
1. Chapter 1

Enjoy (might as well…hehehe)

**Disclaimer**: Nobody here owns One Piece; unless our dear Mr. Eichiro is a member of Ffnet. (which would be pretty funny).

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter I**

"_Sigh_..."

Narrowing her eyes, she gazed at the horizon where a ship, now the size of a tiny dot, sailed out of sight.

"Looks like I'll have to swim for a while…" she muttered, observing her surroundings: a _rock_ in the middle of _nowhere_. Sighing once more and crouching into a sitting position, the young woman reached for her slightly wet duffel bag – her only companion.

After a while of shuffling through its contents, she got out a white, fluffy towel which she would use to dry her hair with. Wet, dark blue tresses fell around her shoulders as she untied her messy ponytail. Humming a tune, she calmly proceeded in rubbing her hair with the towel. While doing so, she kept an eye out for any signs of life on the vast, blue sea around her.

The situation was clearly hopeless: here she was, stranded in the middle of the ocean, with no signs of- well, _anything_. Yet, she was strangely calm about it; more annoyed than horrified at the prospect of swimming for who-knows-how-long in search for dry land or maybe a ship.

But lo and behold, she didn't have to wait long for something to appear. She turned around, the towel on her head, to find...

"Yay! A ship! That was fast…" She jumped up, waving at the faraway ship that appeared to be moving towards her at a rapid pace.

"Wait a second, is that the navy…? Oh well, better than nothing. HEY YOU PEOPLE! OVER HERE!" she yelled cheerfully, flailing her arms wildly.

**_FWOOOSH_**! Apparently out of nowhere,_ fire_ consumed the fleet of ships as each one of them visibly disintegrated.

"Aaaawwww…" she whined, her arms dropping to her sides, the hopeful expression on her face replaced with a frown, while she watched her once potential rescuers smoldering into bits.

"Wow… _that_ doesn't happen everyday…" After much grumbling and complaining, she finally decided to do what any person would in such a situation. Using her bag as a pillow and curling up into a ball, she promptly fell asleep.

* * *

He really didn't want to destroy all those ships. But they were getting annoying, and he really didn't want to spend too much time with them anyway. He had much more important things to take care of. 

Portgas D. Ace, a.k.a. 'Fire fist Ace', resumed his journey that had been rudely interrupted by the navy. He had tried to negotiate with them peacefully- after all, they were only a bunch of lackeys with no chance whatsoever against _him_. But, of course, they would not let him pass (even though he could see every one of them trembling), so he had no other option but to set their ships on fire with his extraordinary ability.

After all, he _was_ a pirate, quite a famous one at that; he couldn't go around showing mercy to everyone who bothered him, especially if that someone was the navy.

That was when he noticed something…blue and white. It was all he could make out of the little dot in the distance. As his boat swiftly approached the spot, he could identify a person. Out of curiosity, he made his unusual vessel move even faster by forcing more fire out of his outstretched hand.

He slowed down when he was close enough to observe whoever it was at a safe distance. He had visualized his younger brother's monstrous punches when he had decided to keep this distance.

Apparently, he needn't have worried, because the person turned out to be a young woman. She was lying there, immobile, with a white towel over her blue hair, wearing a white jacket that only covered half of her back, a blue top underneath, and white Capri pants. Although he wasn't very keen on coming close to a possibly dead body, he approached the rock anyway.

"Oy!" he shouted as he came closer. No reaction. "OY!" A small grunt – she seemed to be trying to ignore him as long as she could.  
Well, at least this meant that she was alive.

Now, what to do? He couldn't just leave her there and pretend that he never saw her. That would be the same as _killing_ her, since he would be leaving her to die.

The gentleman that he was, he decided to get her on his boat and drop her off at the nearest island. This was easier said than done.

After nudging and poking her quite a few times, with her refusing to wake up, Ace somehow managed to drag her unto his boat. Then, letting her sleep, he again resumed his journey.

* * *

There was something in the distance. It was approaching her at an unusually fast rate. Judging by everything being a dull color, and the way she seemed to be drifting around, this was underwater. She stared at the thing that was growing larger and larger every passing second. Before she could register this, it had already turned into something _huge. _

It opened its mouth to reveal gigantic, comb-like teeth. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was a giant _whale _which was about to inhale her. She could feel an enormous force sucking her towards the whale; she couldn't fight it and it looked like she was going to become fish food when-

"AAAAAAARRRGH!" she shrieked as she sat up, clutching her bag for dear life. She was slightly startled as, instead of a huge whale, she saw a young man with a strange hat standing in front of her.

He didn't appear to be in need of a shirt, and he wore pants that did not quite reach his ankles. He was staring at her as if he had never seen anyone scream before.

She blinked. "Uh… who're you?" she asked apprehensively, trying not to weird him out any more than she already had. "I think that's my line." he stated, sitting down to observe her more closely.

A moment of awkward silence proceeded, with her gaping at him and him waiting for her to say something. He crossed his arms. This movement seemed to bring her out of her trance.

She decided to break the silence by saying: "… Nice hat."

He gawked at her. Was that all she could think of saying after waking up next to a complete stranger? Apparently, it was – because all she did was gaze at him with her uncannily blue eyes.

He chuckled. The situation was so awkward that it was almost funny.

"I'm Portgas D. Ace." he said, "I happened to pass by that rock you were sleeping on and you looked like you could use some help, which is why you're on my boat."

She blinked again, as if trying to comprehend exactly what he had just said, but soon replied: "Oh… that's nice of you. Thanks." She smiled at him; she appeared to be completely awake now.

When he continued to look at her expectantly, she realized what he was waiting for, and hastily added,

"Oh yeah, my name's Mel. Just Mel." The awkwardness was finally broken.

"So how did you end up stranded on a rock?" Ace asked. This had been bugging him ever since he had spotted her.

"I was on my way to the next island in some ship, decided to take a swim, and next thing I know, they're waaaay over there." she pointed at the horizon. "It looked like I had to swim to the nearest island when I saw that rock. And, well, I thought that it would be a nice place to take a nap and look out for possible modes of transportation." she explained, as if this was something that happened to her all the time.

"Ah." he responded. He really didn't know what to say to that. She seemed to be very calm about the prospect of being stranded somewhere in the middle of the ocean with no food or water whatsoever.

"You take your bag with you every time you decide to swim for a bit?" He was confused. Her explanation didn't make a lot of sense.

"Yeah, I learned to do that after the first time this happened." she said simply, tugging the towel off of her shoulders and stuffing it into the bag. He decided to drop the matter.

Mel eyed the engine-type-thing behind Ace curiously. "Sooo… how does this boat work?"

He grinned. Now _that_ was a good question. He stood up, saying, "I'll show you." Pointing the palm of his hand at the engine, he let out a blast of fire – almost throwing her off the boat as it shot out into the wide open sea.

Their ears were filled with the roaring of the fire and the fluttering of Mel's jacket while she tried to get her hair out of her face with one hand, clutching the side of the boat with the other.

"You ate a devil fruit?" she yelled, trying to be heard over all the noise. With a nod and a grin, he watched as she seemed to be shocked and delighted at the same time, judging by her expression.

"At this rate, we'll be arriving at the next island in a few hours!" he informed her, at which she grinned and gave him an 'okay sign' before gathering her hair into a messy ponytail. They exchanged a few comments here and there, making the other laugh, and unbeknownst to them, began to form a kind of friendship...

-to be continued-

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**Comments**: Well, here you have it folks! A gift from me to you. Was this long or short? I have no idea. I've never really written a fanfic before… but if you don't like my style, _too bad. _Review if you feel like it, don't review if you didn't like it. Seriously, if you don't like it, why would you read the whole thing? Oh, and don't blame me on my incompetent Grammar skills. English just happens to be my _3rd_ language. Hehe.

I will update whenever I feel like it; which will be soon if I get a lot of positive reviews : ) . (No one's forcing you though.)


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I already got… 7 reviews on the first chapter! That's a lot more than I expected. Thanks guys, you're awesome.

If anyone would be nice enough to tell me where I can get some legitimate One Piece information in _English, _it will be greatly appreciated. I can't seem to find a decent fan site!

Oh, by the way, I finally edited the last chapter a little bit (it took me a long time just to find out _how_ to do it...), so go read it again or something. Hahaha.

And I don't own One Piece.

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**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter II**

"Land ahoy!"

Mel called excitedly. She had turned around to find a thin line appearing along the horizon. Ace slowed down the boat, grinning at the back of her head. With the noise reduced to a dull roar, they could finally stop shouting at each other. Mel took the opportunity to ask an important question:

"Do you know where we are?" He blinked at the piece of land in the distance and shrugged,

"I guess we'll have to ask the people on that island. Where were you headed anyway?" he asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets while fueling the boat through his foot instead. She hesitated, eyeing his burning foot distractedly, but soon answered,

"I'm actually looking for some people but I have no idea where they are, so I suppose it doesn't really matter _where_ I look."

Ace nodded. He knew exactly what she was talking about since he happened to be in a very similar situation.

"Not many would leave their home just to look for someone though." he commented. It was true. How could such a young woman be bold enough to leave the comforts of her home all by herself only to look for someone?

"It seemed like a good excuse to get out of there." she said jokingly. He chuckled as she turned back to face the fast approaching island.

* * *

They found the island to have a fairly large town. The boat docked at the port without any trouble and as soon as it did, Mel hopped lightly off the boat with her bag slung over her shoulder. That was when Ace noticed her bare feet. She followed his gaze and laughed. 

"I lose my shoes almost every time I take a swim." she explained.

"Ah. Did you ever try wearing boots?" he suggested with a smirk.

"Never! Sandals are sufficient for me." she answered, grinning at her wiggling toes. "Why would people want to tuck these away anyway?" this she muttered under her breath. Ace shook his head and got off the boat as well, his own backpack strapped unto his shoulder.

Side by side, they walked into the city, earning a few stares here and there. They were definitely a sight you couldn't see everyday: a young man with a strange hat and a huge tattoo on his bare back and a young woman with unusually blue hair and seemingly no need for footwear striding through the streets, chatting merrily.

When they arrived in the marketplace, the center of the town, they came to a halt almost simultaneously.

"Well…thanks for giving me a ride, Ace!" Mel said cheerfully.

"No problem." he replied, grinning. They stood there for a moment, facing each other; then she turned around, waving goodbye.

"See you!" the young woman called, hurrying off to buy herself a new pair of shoes. Ace waved back before trotting off in the opposite direction in search of a place to eat.

* * *

"This is the nearest island by far; he _must _be here. Find him and arrest him!" a woman shouted at a group of men in white uniform. The navy had arrived. The woman was most likely of a higher rank, judging by the way she was carrying around an air of authority. 

She had exceptionally long, blonde hair, a beautiful face, a cigarette between her teeth, and was wearing a black suit. With a disgruntled expression on her face, she stalked into town, presumably very annoyed at something.

The truth was that she _hated _dealing with pirates, which she was about to do. Then again, _someone _had to be thrown into prison for utterly destroying five marine ships - preferably the person who actually did it.

While she was contemplating this, she happened to walk right past Mel, who, still searching for a decent shoe store, shot a curious glance at the woman.

The female general however, never noticed this and continued her march towards the town center to receive reports from the men who were running around the place to find a certain black-haired pirate.

Mel grimaced slightly as she observed the soldiers swarming throughout the town, many of them pushing past her impatiently (which she thought was rather rude) in their hurry. She clicked her tongue before noticing, to her delight, a big shoe store right in front of her.

Having the owner greet her in a very business-like, cheery way, she forgot all about the commotion outside and began browsing through endless rows of shoes.

* * *

"_Oh great." _Ace thought, gulping down an enormous chunk of meat with an expression of annoyance and irritation written on his face. A bunch of men in white uniform had barged into the restaurant only to spot Ace and dash out again, shouting something like: 

"We got 'im, we got 'im!". He calmly got up, paid the bill, and left.

Once outside, he checked the crowds for any more marine soldiers. Nope, they all seemed to have run off to report to somebody. He decided that it would be very good to try and get to his boat as soon as possible to avoid any more encounters with these men. Without further ado, he started sprinting towards the direction he and Mel had come from earlier.

* * *

"You idiots! At least _one_ of you should have kept an eye on him in case he tries to escape! Since when does it take _five_ men just to report something?" she bellowed, the men cringing before her. 

The woman in black almost bit off the cigarette that was clenched between her teeth in frustration when they discovered the restaurant to be devoid of any kind of pirate.

After commanding the men to split up and search at the docks and everywhere else, she marched off towards a different direction. She supposed that this would speed up the searching process.

* * *

Mel happily purchased a pair of simple, dark blue sandals and an extra pair of slippers, since she had now experienced the necessity of having an extra pair of shoes at all times. She put on the sandals while stuffing the slippers into her bag. She was just about to step out onto the street when- 

"WHOA!" she let out a frightened yell, narrowly avoiding being stampeded by a horde of soldiers dashing past her. Coughing, she gaped at the huge dust cloud that was getting smaller and smaller. It looked like the pack was headed towards the docks.

After most of the dust had resided, Mel decided that she might as well follow the men to see what in the world was going on.

Panting, the group of navy soldiers arrived at the docks where nothing seemed to be out of place. Either their target had already escaped or he was still somewhere in town. Coming to the conclusion that it was probably the latter, they marched back into town. Little did they know that their officer had, all by herself, already found who they had been looking for.

Ace skidded to a halt when he spotted a woman with long blonde hair blocking his way. She stood there, arms crossed, with a cigarette between her teeth, and a determined look on her face.

"Portgas, D. Ace, I presume?" she said through clenched teeth.

"That'd be me, yeah." he replied rather slyly; this was followed by a long speech from the woman on how she was going to arrest him and throw him in jail and all that. He was getting really bored, but it seemed like she was never going to stop. He yawned.

"I guess this means I'll have to fight you?" he interrupted her, earning himself a glare.

"Unless you want to come quietly." she answered. He snorted, crossing his arms as well. He really didn't want to fight anyone right now, so he said,

"I'm sorry, but I don't fight… women." She raised an elegant eyebrow, but didn't seem to care much about what he had said as she charged at him, with one arm outstretched to her side. He evaded the strange attack by simply stepping out of her way.

* * *

Mel walked into an alley which she hoped would be a shortcut. Turning around the corner she found the street occupied – by two people. She recognized the one that was closer to her, back turned, to be the blonde-haired woman she had seen earlier. 

There was something about this woman that had reminded her of _something,_ but she couldn't figure out what it was. Before she could think about it any further, she saw who the woman's opponent was.

It was the young man Mel had become acquainted to earlier that day. Contemplating on what she should do, she hid herself around the corner, out of sight.

"Should I interfere or not?" she mumbled before sticking her head around the wall for a closer look. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the strange attacking style of the woman.

Mel's eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"It's _her_!" she hissed as she remembered something from so long ago. She jumped out of her hiding place, flailing her arms wildly to get Ace's attention.

_"Don't let her touch you!" _she mouthed once he had spotted her. Ace raised an eyebrow. What in the world was she getting at? Mel's arms drooped when she saw his perplexed expression.

Meanwhile, the woman in black had noticed the change in her opponent's face- and turned around. As soon as Mel saw her turning, she leaped out of sight behind a barrel of some sort. She wasn't too keen on revealing herself yet. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the woman turned back around, just as Mel crept out from behind the barrel.

This time, Mel tried to convey her message to Ace through body language. She pointed at the woman between them (who was still unaware of Mel's presence), grabbed her left arm with her right hand and crossed her arms to form an X while shaking her head vigorously.

He blinked. She scowled. 'Fine, I'll _show_ you!' she thought, and promptly threw her overstuffed bag at the woman, shouting

"Watch!". The blonde woman, startled at the sudden yell, turned around to find a bag flying at her.

_**Thump**. _Instead of colliding with her arm, the bag went straight through it to land in front of Ace's feet. He stared at it: it had a tube-like ring wrapped around its middle which was the exact same color as the woman's suit - black. He looked up at his opponent who was staring at Mel, comprehension dawning on his face.

"See? That's what happens when you get into contact with her! She ate a devil fruit too." Mel said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Why didn't you just _tell_ me, then?" he asked with a smirk as he straightened up. She shrugged, grinning.

"And who are _you_?" the woman said crossly, irritated at this sudden interruption.

They ignored her.

"Why is she attacking you anyway?" Mel asked, gesturing towards the other woman once more.

"Actually, I'm not sure. I think she's a Marine general or something." he replied, scratching his cheek.

"Well yes, I know that; but why are _they_ after _you_?"

"Uh… because I'm a pirate?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." she blinked. Then she added, "That makes sense." and nodded.

'Miss Marine General' was getting pretty frustrated at this point. Were these two actually _ignoring _her? She crossed her arms, a vein visibly popping out on her forehead.

This was preposterous; this was why she _hated_ pirates. She gritted her teeth. Deciding that talking wouldn't help anything, she turned to the rude young woman in blue and ran at her, arm outstretched. That got their attention.

Mel frowned slightly at the woman while Ace instinctively set his fist on fire. He was about to use it when the woman's arm came into contact with Mel's left hand, which had been raised defensively.

His eyes widened: nothing happened. Mel was still blocking the woman's arm with her hand. Wasn't it supposed to go straight through her and bind her in a rubbery, rope-like thing? The woman gasped and took a step backwards.

"Sorry; doesn't work on me." Mel explained, smiling.

The female general stared at her, nearly dropping her cigarette. "Who _are_ you?" she uttered.

* * *

"General! The docks are clear and- oh." a marine soldier came running into the scene. A whole bunch of more soldiers followed suit, halting at the sight of their general and Ace. 

"Now _that's_ just unfair." Mel muttered, trying to count the horde of soldiers in front of her.

"What are you doing, you idiots! Get them! _Both_ of them!" Miss General bellowed.

"Huh? What'd _I_ do?" Mel said, apparently confused.

"Doesn't matter- run!" Ace shouted from behind the woman, and started running back the way he had come from. Mel shook her head but took off running anyway.

She thought that splitting up would be a lot better, so she jogged back around the corner she had come from, picking up her bag as she went. The soldiers chased after them, one half after Ace, the other half after Mel.

Mel grumbled as she sprinted down the streets with an army of navy soldiers on her heels. Her bag, which she was holding by the strings, still had the tube-like thing around it.

"Excuse me- Pardon me! Oops, sorry!" she called to the people she bumped into, pushed aside, or accidentally assaulted with her bag in her haste. The soldiers had a hard time keeping up with her, for she proved to be an exceptionally fast runner.

"Halt!" was what they yelled, trampling over carts and innocent passers-by.

She scoffed "As if." and kept dashing through the crowds.

Arriving at the town center, she risked stopping for a few seconds in order to decide which way she should go.

"Mel!"

It was Ace. He came running from somewhere on her right.

"This way!" he shouted, grabbing her arm and steering her into an empty street straight ahead- followed by the, now whole, army.

"Let's try this!" Mel said, running after Ace.

"Eh?" Not bothering to explain, she slowed down, and slipped into the crowd of people next to them instead of running down empty streets. He grinned. It was such a simple idea that it might actually work.

He followed her, blending into the crowd perfectly. Careful not to lose the blue-haired woman in front of him, he glanced behind him, to see the entire army chasing after … nothing.

Mel's idea had worked: the marine soldiers had chased them through empty streets until now, so they didn't think of searching through the crowds. They disappeared with much shouting and yelling, marching farther and farther away from all the people.

* * *

Laughing at the simplicity of the soldiers' minds, the two walked through the market, now carefree and content. The soldiers were nowhere to be seen; they seemed to have given up and left the island. 

When they had confirmed this fact, Mel threw her arms in the air victoriously,

"Hurray! I'm glad that's over with." almost hitting Ace in the head with her bag in the process.

"Watch where you swing that thing." he said, amused at her enthusiasm and readjusting his hat which had nearly been knocked off his head. She apologized immediately and frowned at her bag as if _it_ was to blame.

Then they both stared at it; the tube-like ring was still wrapped tightly around the middle.

Mel tried to pull the annoying thing off - it _was _rather ugly. It wouldn't budge, however, it was as if it had been sewn to the bag itself.

"It… won't… come… OFF!" she growled, between several attempts to yank off the ring which was as thick as her arm.

"Let me try." Ace said before she handed him her bag with a sigh. He tried the same thing, threatening to rip the bag itself, but failed miserably.

People were starting to stare at the odd couple which led them to continue walking. After more fruitless attempts to detach the ring, Ace muttered "There's _got_ to be a way to get this thing off…"

"Of course there is. Try _burning_ it." Mel replied with a grin. She considered the situation to be kind of funny. Ace apparently agreed with her on that; he chuckled.

After several other methods, such as cutting and burning, proved to be ineffective, they gave up. Mel declared that she was starving, so they decided to go find the nearest place to eat.

The thought of 'separating' and 'going their own way' didn't seem to enter their minds. And so Ace and Mel continued their journey together, as if it had always been that way…

_-to be continued-_

_

* * *

_

**Comments**: And so "_The One Ring to annoy them all_" continues until the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. I had a science fair and a really annoying cold for the past few weeks (the science fair was also annoying). I'll try and update sooner next time. I'm not sure if I'll get one done before I leave on a missions trip in two weeks though… We'll see.

The length of each chapter will vary (as you can see). I hope you liked this chapter- I bet I caused some confusion but, oh well! If you understood it perfectly, good job. The blonde woman is actually an actual character in One Piece called Hina. So, yeah, I don't own her.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't think that anyone was waiting anxiously for an update, but if you did, I'm very sorry. You must have nothing better to do.

(Just kidding. I'm really sorry for the late update!)

By the way, please, PLEASE, someone – I need some English One Piece Info! I bet there's an awesome fan site out there but I can't find it, so I need your help.

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter III**

"_Yawn…"_

Mel and Ace had decided to leave the island the same day after buying food and other things here and there. Neither of them had wanted to deal with any more possible "attacks" from the navy. Now they were out on the vast ocean once again, with no apparent course. The weather was perfect and the water was calm with no signs of land as far as the eye could see. This condition, however, was not very appealing to the adventurous pirate. Ace was at the point of thinking that he would dearly appreciate the appearance of a huge octopus or any other kind of sea monster.

Instead, he faced one of the biggest plights one could encounter out on the sea: boredom. Mel seemed to have gone into a state at which she could not be talked to. All she had been doing for the past few hours was staring at her duffel bag. The tube-like thing was still there, which was probably the reason for her strange behavior. Ace had tried to strike up a conversation several times, but to no avail. A curt reply or an occasional grunt was all that he received. Finally deciding to take a break, he sat down and observed the immobile figure on the other end of the boat.

"Aha!" she exclaimed suddenly, making Ace blink in surprise (it would have taken a lot more to make him jump). Before he could respond to Mel's sudden outburst, he was again surprised as his companion promptly tossed her bag overboard.

"What was that for?" he asked, slightly bewildered.

Mel gave him a satisfied smile. "Just testing a theory."

He observed the spot where the bag was supposed to have sunk. "I see."

And this is what he saw: the black substance that was shaped like a thick ring enabled Mel's bag to float on the water, so, instead of sinking like a rock never to be found again, her bag remained safely on the surface. She leaned out of the boat to reach one of the strings in order to pull the bag back unto her lap when-

"AUGH!" a little fish with very pointy teeth jumped out of the water and clamped its jaws passionately around Mel's outstretched fingers. She tried shaking it off, but it seemed determined to somehow consume the human it had just 'caught'. Ace fished the bag out of the water while Mel was occupied with the tiny, carnivorous fish, and was now halfheartedly trying to help her get it off of her fingers. What was he to do? He couldn't exactly burn the little thing since that would in turn hurt Mel as well.

"I think it died." she said conversationally after a while, observing the limp, scaly thing that was still firmly attached to her fingers.

"Couldn't breathe anymore, eh? Poor thing." Ace replied as she somehow managed to remove the fish and throw it back into the ocean.

Massaging her fingers, Mel suddenly asked: "What happened to my bag?"

"Eh?" They looked at it. The black ring around it was gone. "But… how?" Both puzzled, they kept staring at the bag when - **_SPLASH! _**– something heavy dropped into the water barely missing the boat. This certainly got their attention.

* * *

A fairly large ship had been quickly approaching while Ace and Mel were busy dealing with their little problems. Judging by the fact that the ship had a huge skull painted all over its sail, it belonged to a bunch of pirates. They had been on the brink of destruction by their own boredom when they noticed the first sign of life on the sea they had seen for _weeks_. 

They also happened to have a handful of cannons that hadn't been used for months. Therefore, of course, they decided to use the little boat out there as target practice. The two aboard the little boat however, were not very happy about this.

Or were they?

A grin spread upon Ace's face, "There's our little entertainment for the day." he muttered, starting up the boat again. Mel held on to the side of the vessel, chuckling and inspecting her now ring-free bag. "Poor things." she commented, referring to Ace's victims-to-be.

_Thump_. Within a few seconds, the boat stopped right next to the ship and Ace somehow jumped up on board. Mel stared after him.

"How in the world did he do _that_?" she thought, facing the wooden side of the large pirate ship. It was just high enough to be too hard for her to jump unto and low enough to annoy her. There was no way she was going to miss all the action, which compelled her to hastily search for a way to get on board herself. . . .

* * *

A collective gasp went around the crew of the ship the second Ace appeared. 

"Sooo…." he started, crossing his arms and smirking at the terrified pirates.

"WE DIDN'T DO IT!" a man in the back shouted, soon to be silenced by his crewmates.

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Didn't do what?" he asked, "Oh, you mean that cannonball you almost hit my boat with?" They shuddered.

Mel finally managed to somehow pull herself on board. "Ace, how did you _jump_ like that?" she inquired rather accusingly before noticing the frightened pirates. "Aww, did I miss something?"

Before Ace could answer her, the biggest and hairiest man of the pack, presumably the captain, gathered up all his courage and shouted:

"ATTAAACK!"

The pirates, loyal to their captain and not very smart, followed the command and charged at the two with their swords. "That's better." Ace stepped in front of Mel, motioning for her to get out of the way. She complied obediently and backed out of the cloud of battle that erupted before her.

Deciding not to use his ability, Ace swiftly evaded every stab and swish of the swords with a grin on his face, never losing his hat. The pirates tripped over, bumped into, and injured each other, making it unnecessary for Ace to attack them. Mel watched the scene before her in awe, amazed at the sight of these pathetic pirate-wannabes.

One of the men stumbled out of the mess and, noticing the defenseless woman in front of him, charged at her with all his might in his confusion. Mel almost felt sorry for the pirate as she simply stepped aside and permitted him to topple head first over the railing.

"Man overboard." she said, more to herself than anybody, a satisfying_ splash_ confirming her statement.

Ace checked the area for any more potential attackers but found all of the pirates either pretending to be or actually unconscious. He decided to leave it at that and informed Mel that they were done. She nodded, refusing to jump off the ship first but telling him that she would follow. He shrugged and landed safely on his boat.

"Hm." Mel swung her legs over the railing and sat there, thinking. She really hadn't thought about getting _off_ the ship when she had struggled to get _on_ it. Not that she was afraid of heights or anything, but this seemed rather dangerous. Falling unto a solid surface never did any good to her body, and she didn't really want to get wet either. While she was contemplating over her dilemma, Ace, as if he had read her thoughts, chuckled and called out:

"Come on, I'll catch you."

Her face brightened up considerably; she was about to jump off when- "Watch out!"- she turned around to find one of the pirates, probably one of the ones who had pretended to be out cold, about to swing a sword at her neck. She ducked, barely avoiding the attack, and simultaneously shifted her position, gripping the railing with her hands to support her body and spinning around to kick the man square across the chest – sending him flying off unto a pile of his beat-up comrades.

Mel huffed. "What a coward, attacking a _woman_ from behind her _back_!" she grumbled before jumping off the ship and landing safely in Ace's arms.

"I didn't know you could fight." he said, mildly surprised, while setting her back on her feet. He had actually suspected Mel to be a decent fighter back when she had so calmly blocked the marine officer's attack, but he hadn't expected her to be quite so flexible and, well, fast. This only showed him how little he knew about his fellow traveler.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah, well, he asked for it." she answered, still irritated at the rudeness of said pirate. "And it's called _self-defense,_ not fighting."

* * *

It was really relaxing to feel the water splash around her feet. Ace's boat was very conveniently shaped like a big surfboard, which made it easy for Mel to dip her feet in the water. She only hoped that there weren't any sea monsters ready to pull her down into the depths of the ocean by her feet. This thought, though it was actually very likely to come true, didn't really unnerve her; she risked it all the same. Ace didn't seem to be worried about this either; he was enjoying the wind against his face as the boat sped across the water. 

The little commotion they had experienced a while ago seemed to have evaporated any concepts of boredom from their minds. Ace had sighted a very wide strip of land somewhere ahead of them, which was where they had set their course. It was somehow familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. That is, until Mel informed him of where they were headed.

"Isn't that Alabasta?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the faraway kingdom.

"Right. Lots of sand- must be it." Ace responded, his eyes flashing at the thought of exploring a great bit of land- and possibly finding his targets. Mel turned to face him and noticed the anticipation in his eyes.

She pictured a vast desert in front of her and commented, "You're thinking of wandering all over the place, aren't you?"

"Of course. Aren't _you_?"

"Aren't I what?"

"Aren't you thinking of wandering through the desert, too?" he grinned.

"I was _thinking_ about it, yes, but that doesn't mean I _like_ the idea." she said, while trying not to sound too whiny. She didn't like whiny people.

Mel was distressed about something, and this really didn't happen every day. Ace decided to tease her about it a bit.

"Let me guess, you don't like walking?" he started, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

"No, I love walking. It's just… well… it's dry and hot and there's no water!" she blurted out, slightly annoyed at his nonchalant attitude. Then again, that was what she appreciated about him.

Ace laughed. Mel looked at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She found his laughing to be very contagious. It seemed silly to her now that she had been worrying about the desert. She knew that this young man would never allow her to die of thirst or the immense heat of the sun. Laughing, she told him to forget what she had said and told herself not to fret about such things ever again. After all, there was a chance of finding who she was looking for- it was worth wandering through _anything_.

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments:** Well, it's a lot shorter than the last chapter, but it's something! Now that I have summer vacation, I should be able to update a lot sooner. . . I think . . . hahahaha. Oh my. I can't believe that the last time I updated was MARCH. Hehe… oops?

I personally think that Alabasta sounds a lot better than Arabasta, which is how it's spelled in one of my 'official fan books'. Alabasta is how they pronounce it in Korean, so that's what I'll stick with.

Thank you for the reviews:

**Third Eye**: An original character that doesn't make people want to hack their keyboard with a shovel is exactly what I was trying to create! I'm glad I've satisfied at least one person with my OC.

**TrunksgirlBlaze27**I didn't update ASAP. But at least I updated, right? Hehehe.. sorry!

**Jazzy Uchiha**** & ****Kurama13**** & 'Hida Hank' & 'zen the sexy demon': **Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

**Stripes of Scarlet**I doubt that your definition of _soon_ is _close-to-three-months_. But here's the next chapter!

**Raptor tP: **A lot of people around me seem to love Ace. He's one of my favorite characters, too, but I don't really understand why. Anyway, don't worry, I won't stop writing. I'm just really slow at updating. Haha…

**stargirl5**: My first reviewer! _Interesting_ probably means that it's not like every other fanfic (or at least, that's what I think you were saying). Thanks!

Look forward to the next chapter! I'll have to go look at the comic books for reference again.


	4. Chapter 4

Some of the actual _One Piece_ plot is going to come out in this chapter. If you want to follow along, it's Book 18, Chapters 157-159. Of course, it'll be a little bit twisted, what with Mel in the picture, but the basic events are almost straight out of the book (worded differently, though). Enjoy!

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter IV**

"Hmm…"

Mel looked around the vast harbor city of Nanohana. Yes, she was hungry, but curiosity won over and intended to drag her throughout the bustling streets. Ace wasn't so inclined to exploring the place, so he excused himself to the first restaurant they came across. After telling him to stay out of trouble, at which he gave a good-natured snort, Mel took on the role of a tourist and proceeded to investigate the city.

A variety of stands were lined up along the broad paths; countless people were buying, selling, talking, and just walking around, minding their own matters. Finally giving in to the protests of her empty stomach, Mel bought a couple of apples to eat during her little expedition. The weather was beautiful, if not a little hot, which lifted her spirits quite a bit.

She was about to bite into an apple when she noticed a large dust cloud forming somewhere down the street on her left. She squinted, focusing on the figure that was emerging from the dust at an alarming rate.

"FOOOOOD!" a boy with a straw hat on his head bellowed, running hurriedly towards the place that Mel was standing. Her eyes widened as the boy darted past her, the force of which causing her hair to blow wildly around her face. She blinked. The boy's face had seemed oddly familiar. Mel shrugged. Tucking a few unruly strands of hair behind her ear, she finally bit into the neglected apple.

* * *

Ace had fallen asleep in his food again. Literally. Then again, that was one of his uncanny talents. 

In this case, he had fallen asleep while eating and talking to the cook. His head had suddenly hit his plate (full of food, mind) with a loud _clang_, almost giving the poor cook a heart attack.

The other customers hustled around Ace's stiff and immobile body; undoubtedly, they thought he was dead. His hand was still resolutely gripping his fork. Nobody dared to touch him, thinking that he might have been poisoned somehow.

With a loud gasp, Ace woke up abruptly, which created instant chaos.

"He's alive!" the people shouted, stunned.

Ace blinked dazedly and muttered, "Must've dozed off again…" before continuing to eat his food.

"Dozed off?"

"Impossible! In the middle of a meal and conversation?"

"What's with the racket?" Ace asked the cook, pointing his thumb at the loud customers behind him. This was again followed by an outburst from the people, outraged at his offhandedness.

* * *

The racket had attracted quite a crowd around the restaurant called "Spice Bean." The crowd, in turn, attracted a certain marine captain named Smoker, and his marine lackeys. The ill-tempered man entered the place with his ever present scowl and multiple cigars. 

"Have you seen this guy here? With the straw hat.." Ace was asking the cook, holding up a _wanted_ poster.

Before the cook had a chance to answer, Smoker interrupted:

"Portgas D. Ace. Now, what does the commander of the "White Beard" Pirate Crew, Second Corps, want in this country?"

The question was again ensued by a racket. "White Beard?" the people shouted, backing away from the man that was now identified as being part of a crew of the most feared pirates.

"Ah," Ace responded casually, "I'm looking for my little brother."

The pirate and the marine stared at each other.

"So, what do you want me to do?" asked Ace slyly.

"Go to jail." Smoker growled, puffing on his cigars.

"Nah, I don't think so." The pirate replied, smirking.

"I'm looking for a different pirate… so I'm not really interested in catching you." the marine said.

Ace shrugged, "Then pretend you didn't see me."

"I can't do that." Smoker stated as his fist started to smoke, "As long as I'm a marine, and you're a pirate…!"

"What a boring reason… Take it easy!"

It looked like a huge fight was about to break out between the two men when- "**ROCKET!**" something blasted through the door and crashed into the marine captain with such force that he went flying, crashing into Ace and into the wall. The result was a whole series of destroyed walls.

The _rocket_-thing turned out to be a boy with a straw hat. He seated himself next to the caved in wall and demanded to be fed.

* * *

Mel had put on a cloak to protect her skin from the scorching sun, which made her look very much like every other person on the streets. Chewing on her last apple, she headed towards the restaurant she had left Ace at. Something told her that he had _not_ stayed out of trouble. 

She walked past a wall that was covered with various _Wanted_ notices and photographs. Then she did a double take. There, in the middle of famous pirates who were wanted dead or alive for millions of Beli, was a poster she had never seen before. Mel tore it off the wall for closer inspection. Sure enough, under the big, bold letters that spelled the word **_WANTED_** was a picture of a young woman.

"_When_ do they take these pictures?" she muttered in disbelief as she examined the photograph. Curly blue hair, distinctly blue eyes, and a somewhat cheeky expression- it was undoubtedly Mel. The picture was followed by: "**Alive, 10,000,000 Beli**" Three question marks filled the space where the name was supposed to be.

"Ten million Beli? Boy, they must have a _lot_ of spare money rolling around." Mel shook her head, laughing. At least there was no "Dead or" before the "Alive." They didn't know her name, either. One would think that the marines would have managed to overhear her name when they could take a picture of her without anybody noticing. Not that it really mattered. She folded up the paper and tucked it into one of the pockets on her cloak.

* * *

Mel's suspicions about Ace not staying out of trouble were confirmed by the crowd gathered around the restaurant. As she hurried towards the place, curious as to what had happened, someone hurtled out the door and started running towards her. 

It was the boy with the straw hat that she had seen running around earlier. This time, however, he had a _very_ full mouth and a frantic expression on his face, which led her to assume that he was running away from someone.

Another man with light colored hair followed the boy out the restaurant. He appeared to be the chaser.

"Smoker." Mel mumbled upon recognizing the man. She hid behind a perfume stand and watched the boy run past, followed closely by the marine captain.

"Are you looking for something, dear?" a kindly old woman, presumably the owner of the stand, asked.

"Huh? Oh. No, no, just hiding from someone." Mel replied truthfully before apologizing to the woman and leaving her hiding place. She was about to go and find Ace when he came running out of the restaurant as well. She intended to ask him about what had happened, but he ran right past her, following the young boy and Smoker.

She blinked. What on earth was going on? The fastest way to find out was to follow them, so she did.

* * *

It was definitely him. The straw hat and the immense craving for food had verified it. Ace dashed through the streets after his little brother, delighted at his luck of finding the boy so quickly. 

After much running and many attempts of finding the boy with the straw hat, he decided to go directly towards the docks. It was very likely that his little brother would try to escape that way, but Ace knew that Smoker would not make it easy.

Sure enough, he arrived to see Smoker about to capture the boy with his smoke-attacks.

"You are _not_ getting away this time!" Smoker bellowed, his fist detaching from his arm like a rocket, a thick trail of smoke behind it. At the same time, Ace sent out a burst of flames which knocked out the smoke.

"Hold it!" he said and jumped into the scene with half of his body on fire.

* * *

Mel skidded to a halt. First, all she could distinguish was a load of smoke, but then there was fire. Scattered around a broad street were a bunch of marines with Smoker up front with his back to her. He was apparently talking to someone who seemed to be on fire. Another handful of people were running away from them, towards the sea. It looked like the man on fire, Ace of course, was holding up the marines so that the others behind him could get away. 

"How nice of him," Mel thought, before the marines finally took notice of her.

They told her to "Stay back, miss!" but she promptly ignored them and proceeded to make her way through towards fire and smoke.

Ace wasn't exactly sure what to do. This could take forever, and he had promised his brother to catch up. Smoker alone was a big nuisance, but the other marines were just bothersome. He suddenly noticed someone that did not fit into the picture. A young woman covered by one of those desert cloaks was approaching the scene. He grinned when he finally recognized her.

"Oy, Mel! Try getting rid of those marines, will you? I'll take care of Smoker." Ace yelled, certain of her cooperation. Smoker looked a bit surprised at the interruption and turned around to inspect the newcomer.

"Sure." Mel replied cheerfully, raising her hand in salute to Smoker who was staring at her. His attention was soon focused back on Ace as the pirate launched a fireball at him.

* * *

Now, how does one _get rid_ of about ten marine soldiers with nothing but a bag? Mel had to do some quick thinking. She couldn't really knock them out all at once. Her only option was to distract them and run. That wouldn't really _get rid _of them, but it would save a lot of time, and nobody needed to get hurt... badly. 

A pile of barrels stood very near to where Mel was standing. Upon noticing it, she grinned.

"Perfect."

Ramming her body into the bottom row of barrels, she hurtled out of the way as the pyramid tumbled and crashed down, sending a handful of heavy barrels rolling into the small army of marines. Panic ensued with the men running in all directions, some unlucky ones getting flattened or knocked out.

Really, Mel hadn't expected her idea to work quite so efficiently. Satisfied, she watched the army disperse. Whatever was in those barrels, it was certainly very heavy. Maybe throwing her body against such a solid object hadn't been such a good idea; she could already feel a bruise forming on her shoulder.

"Okay, I'm done." she said casually, jogging up to her companion who was still occupied with holding back Smoker.

"Good girl." Ace said, grinning.

"Who the heck are you?" Smoker barked, frowning at the two.

Mel looked at him. She couldn't think of anything clever to say, so she simply pressed a forefinger against her lips, refusing to answer.

"Alright, let's go." Ace said and, pulling her safely behind him, created a huge wall of fire between them and the rest.

They ran to the boat with Mel muttering something like: "You could've done that earlier, you know."

* * *

"What should we do, captain? We totally lost sight of the Straw Hat Pirates!" a marine asked Smoker anxiously, eyeing the flaming obstacle before them. 

"Hmph… Alabasta is a large place. Once they're gone we'll never find them!" the captain grumbled, seating himself on the remnants of a broken down brick wall. "Portgas D. Ace is to blame."

A young woman with short black hair and a pair of thick glasses came running, followed closely by a burly marine.

"Captain Smoker! Sorry I'm late-," she huffed, walking up to the white-haired man.

"Tashigi, where _were_ you?" Smoker inquired gruffly.

"Sir! On the other side of town, sir!" the burly marine stated hastily. Tashigi, the young woman, silenced him quickly with a pleading look.

"Do you know of a woman with blue hair and blue eyes?" Smoker asked, ignoring the last comment. The woman blinked at him, puzzled.

"Seems to be traveling with 'Fire fist Ace'." the captain added a bit

"Hmm…Oh!" Tashigi hurriedly produced a poster from her pocket. "I meant to show you this earlier, captain, but-," she handed him the paper apprehensively. "- do you mean _her_?"

Smoker stared at the picture and nodded absentmindedly.

"Ten million Beli? What'd she _do_?" he growled, frowning at the numbers.

"We… we received an order to catch that woman at all costs. She's su..supposed to be a great threat." Tashigi stuttered nervously.

He glanced thoughtfully at the timid woman and asked, more calmly, "They didn't say anything about her _abilities_ or such?"

"Nothing, sir." she replied confidently.

Smoker puffed on his cigars and stood up. "I'll have to inquire about that, then." he muttered, more to himself than anybody.

More loudly, he said, "Alright, we're leaving! Notify every marine of this." he waved around the paper he was holding.

The marines scattered at the command. Smoker gave one last look at the wall of fire which was steadily burning out.

"Mel, eh? You'd better not become a pirate."

_to be continued _

* * *

**Comments:** That was a long chapter! Or was it? It took quite some time to finish, anyway. I hope you guys enjoyed it! There'll be some more of the actual plot in the next chapter, so you'll get to see more of the Straw Hats.

Thanks for the awesome reviews!

Kugatsu Kuro Kyohaku Bara : Well, here's another chapter! I hope you didn't wait too long for it (Wait a second.. it's been ONE MONTH! … oops.. sorry?). I'll try to keep Mel non-Sue-ish as much as possible, you can count on that! By the way, I almost blushed when I read your review. I was so happy!

Suicidal Hitomi : My, oh my. Many thanks for your review- it's so encouraging when people appreciate your work, isn't it? Yeah, I was trying to make Mel as weird as possible (in other words.. not Mary-Sue-ish, haha).. I guess it worked!

TrunksgirlBlaze27 : I was thinking about a fanfic revolving around Zoro.. but that would be boring. So I wrote this story! Hahaha

LadyMeko : Here's more. I'm glad you love it!

Third Eye : You know, that 'update soon' thing never seems to work with me… how sad… Well, I'll try harder to update ASAP… I hope you're satisfied with this chapter for now (hehe).

Jazzy Uchiha : Ah, a regular reviewer! i thank


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: It's very annoying when you finally know how to _end_ your story, but aren't sure of how to fill the "in between" space. And, of course, I don't own One Piece.

Follow along in Chapter 159 of the actual comic if you want to – it will probably make a bit more sense if you do.

A lot of the dialogue, again, was written by Eiichiro Oda but I twisted it a bit from the official English version (because the official English version did a coughterriblecough job of translating).

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter V**

"_Whoa!_"

Mel gasped. Not that she was exceedingly surprised at Ace's ability to jump like… well, a flea, maybe, but gasping seemed to be the best thing to do in this situation. They had reached the ship that Ace had been so intent on following, and, without a word of explanation to Mel, he had jumped onto the ship's railing as if it was the most natural thing to do; which, for him, it probably was.

She heard a loud _thump_ and then someone yelling "ACE!"

Mel listened intently. She thought it was rather rude of Ace to leave her down on the little boat all by herself. He should, by now, know that she had no talent whatsoever of jumping as high as he could. Not that she ever tried…

After a bit of grumbling and complaining, Mel pulled out something from her bag. It was a long and sturdy rope with a hook attached to one end. Climbing up the side of the ship with a rope- that was easy; she had done it many times before when sneaking onto a passenger ship.

* * *

"Those marines don't seem to be coming after us." someone said. 

"Yeah, I kept 'em busy with some fire." Ace replied with a smirk.

A small _clunk_ interrupted the conversation, followed instantly by the sound of footsteps on wood. Everyone stared and Ace grinned as Mel clambered onto the ship and stood next to him.

"Really, you _know_ I can't jump like you, Ace!" she told Ace accusingly. He laughed and apologized before introducing her to the rest of the people.

"Mel, this is my brother, Luffy, and his crew. Luffy, this is Mel." he explained briefly, gesturing to the straw-hat-boy Mel had seen running around earlier in Nanohana.

"Hi! Are you a pirate?" the boy asked her enthusiastically. They stared at each other for a moment.

"I _knew_ you reminded me of Ace!" Mel finally said, grinning. Then she added, "And no, I'm not a pirate."

By this time, the rest of the crew was eyeing the newcomer interestedly. She gave the impression of a common citizen of Alabasta, what with the desert clothes and all. But something about her was strange (besides the fact that she had just climbed onto their ship with a rope), since she didn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact that she was standing on a pirate ship or that she wasn't carrying any kind of weapon.

"You're traveling with Ace?" Luffy asked her. Mel and Ace nodded.

"_Why? _I thought you weren't a pirate?" A girl with orange hair butted in. Mel seemed surprised at the question. She blinked at Ace; he blinked back.

"Uh..." she started, trying to think of a decent answer. "His boat is really fast." was all she could think of.

A young, green haired man, the one with the three swords, spoke up: "And you let her tag along?" he glanced at Ace with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm. Well, she's not a burden." Ace replied rather thoughtfully. Mel decided not to say anything and listened to the others with her arms crossed.

"Whoa! You must be really strong; want to join my crew?" Luffy asked her promptly. Almost everybody's mouth dropped and nobody could think of anything to say to that.

"…What?" Mel was quite sure that she had misheard him somehow. She looked confused and almost yelped in surprise when Ace suddenly wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and grinned at his brother.

"No no no no," he said determinedly, "she's joining _White Beard_."

"_What?_"Mel repeated, a lot louder this time. She still had her arms crossed as she stared at her friend.

The crew silently watched the discussion which ended rather abruptly with Mel slapping Ace in the stomach with the back of her hand and telling the brothers that she wasn't about to join _anybody's_ crew.

Luffy (and a few others, namely the blond cook whose eyes had turned into hearts upon catching sight of Mel) stared at her disappointedly but soon recovered when Ace remembered the reason he was here in the first place.

"Here, I wanted to give this to you." he said and tossed a folded up piece of paper at his brother. "Keep this with you at all times."

Luffy blinked at it. "It's a piece of paper." he stated, unfolding it.

"Yup," Ace nodded, "that paper will let us meet again."

"Oh…"

"Don't want it?" Ace inquired indifferently.

"No, I do!" Luffy replied quickly. Mel smiled, sensing that it was probably time to go now. She took a seat on the railing while Ace said his parting words.

"Having a silly little brother makes me worry. I bet he gives you guys lots of trouble;" he said to the crew, "take care of him for me, will you?" Then, with one last grin, he nodded at Mel and jumped off the ship to land on his boat.

Mel shifted around until her legs were dangling off the side of the ship.

"Well then," she said, turning slightly to face the 'Straw hat pirates', "until we meet again, I guess." With a smile and a curt wave, she dropped herself onto Ace's boat, landing (to her surprise) flawlessly next to her bag.

"You're leaving already? You could stay a little longer!" shouted Luffy who hadn't seen his brother for ages.

"I only stopped by to give you that paper." Ace told him while pulling up the rope that had prevented his boat from floating away on its own.

"I'm chasing a major criminal right now," he continued, "He's been calling himself _Black Beard_ lately." Mel froze and looked up from the process of stowing away her own rope when he said this.

Ace didn't seem to notice, however.

"He used to be part of the _White Beard _pirates, Second Corps – my subordinate." After glancing at Mel who was looking at him questioningly, he explained,

"He committed the worst possible crime on a pirate ship." He paused to add a dramatic effect before finishing,

"… Killing a fellow crew member."

Silence followed Ace's little speech. The expression on Mel's face seemed to harden as she firmly closed her bag with the rope tucked away inside.

"Well, I'm the commander, so I have to 'finish him off'." continued Ace, "I wouldn't be in this part of the sea if it weren't for that."

Then he grinned broadly at his little brother and said at last, "The next time we meet, Luffy, will be at the pirates' summit."

* * *

"See you then!" they could hear Luffy shout as Ace started up the boat which shot out into open sea. 

A comfortable silence proceeded between him and Mel while she sat cross-legged with her bag on her lap and her back turned to Ace. She was enjoying the wind blowing through her hair when they caught sight of something quite unexpected.

Five impressive pirate ships were lined up on the water, blocking their path. Two swords crossed behind a skull that appeared to have wings was the symbol that had been painted across the huge white sails.

"Come on! We've got 'im outnumbered, fifty to one!" someone shouted. Mel raised her eyebrows at this as she stood up,

"What, I don't count at all?" she mumbled to herself.

Another foolish pirate decided to insult them further and yelled,

"Five ships! Try to get past us if you can, Fire boy!"

Mel turned to her companion, frowning, "Are you going to let them talk to you like th- aaak!"

She was cut short by Ace scooping her up promptly with a smirk. Before she could object, he shot into the air like a rocket, the force of which sending his boat straight into the water.

"What! He jumped!"

"Shoot him!"

Confused and hurried yells broke out on the ships as the pirates ran around and gaped at the flaming dot in the sky.

"We win if he falls into the water!"

* * *

Maybe this was how it felt when one was dying. Then again, Mel hadn't expected her friend to make such a suicidal jump and she had certainly never imagined dying like this. But did he really have to go and take her with him? No, really, that was just mean. She was going to have to get him back for this later...if they survived. 

This was what shot through her mind at the rate of twelve words per second as she held on to Ace as if her life depended on it (which it probably did).

She caught a few glimpses of, well, _fire_, more than anything. She sincerely hoped that the pirate wasn't stupid enough to set _all_ of his body on fire while holding her in his arms. To her relief, he turned out to be quite considerate and did not burst into flames entirely.

And then there was that overwhelming feeling of hundreds of terrified butterflies flapping around in her stomach as gravity finally took hold of the two and sent them dropping towards the dark water.

She didn't even think of screaming since the shock had literally knocked the breath out of her lungs, and before she remembered that breathing was very important, it was over.

Out of all things, Mel hadn't expected Ace to land on something _solid_ and seriously started doubting her sanity when she found herself sitting on Ace's boat.

* * *

It had apparently plunged into the water only to shoot beneath the five ships and surface on the other side to provide a landing place for its daring owner. 

In any case, as soon as Ace had unceremoniously dumped Mel and her bag unto the wet boat, he turned around to face the pirate ships (and their occupants who were gaping at him incredulously) and grinned menacingly.

Setting one foot on the turbine-type thing of his boat, he swung his flaming fist as if he was about punch something and shouted:

"**_Fire Fist_**-****"

And with an earsplitting noise, the ships exploded with fire and were immediately swallowed up by the ocean.

* * *

"Was that really necessary?" Mel finally croaked after a few moments, finding that her voice seemed to have finally returned. 

Ace readjusted his hat and grinned at her, "Well, I couldn't let them talk to me like that now, could I?" he asked her simply.

"I meant the jump, Ace." she replied in a stern, frustrated kind of voice.

He blinked. "Oh, that. Hm… I guess it wasn't." he grinned at her somewhat apologetically but she could see that he had utterly enjoyed the surprised look on her face when he had decided to let her experience a 'rocket jump'.

She glared at him crossly for a few seconds until she burst out laughing and told him never to do that again if he valued her sanity. He agreed to that but didn't promise anything as he laughed along with her.

When they finally got a hold of themselves, Ace fed the boat with a constant flow of fire from his foot and set off again. The dull roar of fire thankfully wasn't loud enough, and so Mel didn't have to shout at Ace.

"So what devil fruit did your brother eat?" she asked offhandedly. He looked at her in surprise.

"And how did you know that he ate one?" he said. She looked up at the sky and answered:

"Many pirate captains have some kind of strange ability."

"That's true." Ace agreed, "Luffy ate the 'Gomu Gomu Fruit', so his body is made out of rubber."

"I see." she mumbled as she pulled out a very tattered looking book and a writing utensil and started scribbling something into its pages. Her companion stared at her, waiting for some kind of explanation for what she was doing.

He was about to ask her when he remembered that there was still a big unsolved mystery about her.

"Mel."

"Hm?" she responded without looking up from her notebook.

"Will you be kind enough to explain to me as to why you seem to be immune to Devil Fruit powers?"

Her hand stopped scribbling.

"I assume that you are referring to that incident a few days ago? The one with that blonde marine woman?" she inquired, as if she was trying to buy time. Ace nodded and ceased to fuel the boat.

Mel blinked at her book without actually seeing it. Then she looked up at the sky to examine the clouds. Ace sat down next to her and waited patiently.

"How do I explain this…" she started, "…You see, _it_ only seems to work against those abilities that require direct contact."

"And what is _it_, exactly?" he asked glancing up at the clouds as well to see what was so interesting.

"A secret." she answered cheekily. Then, seeing the look on his face, she quickly added, "Just kidding. It all happened when I was only a little girl…" she started dreamily.

Ace had to grin at this. "Aren't you a little girl now, too?" he commented, his grin widening when he saw her expression.

"I happen to be twenty years old, thank you very much!" Mel declared, slightly annoyed.

"Ah, me too." he replied. She blinked at him, looking honestly surprised.

"No, really? And I always thought of you as an old man." she said casually before a wicked grin covered the look of innocent surprise on her face.

* * *

Ace would have really liked to defend himself but he realized that they were getting way off topic and quickly told her to stop being silly and to continue on with her story. 

After giving him a severely hurt look, which made him snort with laughter, she grinned and began her story.

"Well, I was about seven years old when my parents came home one day from another long trip, they're merchants, you see, and gave me this pretty pebble for my birthday. It was beautiful, really, but kind of stupid. I mean, who would give their little girl a _pebble_ out of all things?" she started rambling about how tactless her parents were sometimes but stopped when she realized this and went back to the actual facts.

"Anyway, I didn't appreciate the gift and left it lying around somewhere. Sooner or later, I forgot about it. But then, one day, I was eating with my grandfather – my parents had left again – when I saw something in my soup that looked remarkably like that pebble they had given me. The delightfully intelligent child I was, I decided that it was probably just something … edible… come to think of it that was really stupid of me… in any case, I ate it." she paused.

Ace stared at her. This little story somehow reminded him a lot of that time when he discovered that his little brother had managed to eat a Devil Fruit without knowing what it was.

He chuckled when he heard Mel muttering something about how ridiculous she used to be and it took him a lot of self control not to say anything along the lines of 'You haven't changed at all'.

"I found out a lot later that the pebble was actually something really valuable… I think it was called a Sea Stone or something. It's supposed to kill you if you eat it, but nothing happened to me. Must have been luck; I was always a particularly lucky girl, you see." she stated with a smirk.

"I'm guessing that the pebble thing has the exact opposite effect of a Devil Fruit... if it doesn't kill you. It actually tasted kind of good."

"So now you're immune to any direct contact-Devil Fruit attacks." Ace concluded thoughtfully.

"Yes and I'm also a fantastic swimmer." Mel added with a distinctively haughty smirk. The pirate beside her suddenly felt a strong urge to push her into the water but he controlled himself.

"Modesty is a virtue, my dear." he said instead, with a tone that suggested that he was talking to a young child.

"Ace, you just jumped over five ships merely to show off." she replied coolly, sounding rather like somebody's mother.

"I never said that_ I_possessed that virtue." he retorted with a smirk. Mel gave an overly exasperated sigh and turned back to writing in her book.

"And are you ever going to tell me what _that_ is?" Ace said after a while.

"It's a _book_, dear." she answered, adopting the tone that he had used on her earlier.

Suddenly, a look of recognition spread across her face as she turned her head to stare at her companion.

"What, have you just realized that I was actually asking for the _identity_ of the book?" he remarked, amused at how quickly her expressions seemed to change.

"No, I just remembered something." she told him simply.

"Well?" he looked at her. Then he raised an eyebrow when Mel didn't answer immediately. She seemed to be hesitating.

"Ace," she said slowly, "… I think we're looking for the same person."

Dun dun _dun_

-to be continued-

* * *

****

**  
Comments: **Yes! I managed to end the chapter like I wanted to! I'm afraid Mel is slowly starting to show signs of a Mary Sue (shudders). Don't worry; I'll get her to do something really stupid in the next chapter. So anyway, thanks for waiting (slightly less than) another month or so for this chapter, I apologize for making you wait so long!

I think I'll make this story around 10 -13 chapters long, what do you think? I have a lot of ideas for the end stuff so the actual ending might even take up 2 chapters or so by itself.

Thanks for the reviews! I only (okay, I should be thankful for actually getting any but …) got four reviews for chapter four. Go Figure. Very many thanks to these four anyway:

**Fiery-Wolf-Angel** : You know, I think it's an almost proven fact that Ace-people are also Zoro-people. Including myself.

**Kugatsu Kuro Kyohaku Bara** : Well, here's the next chapter, and it happens to be really long… My, they talk a lot in this one, don't they?

**TrunksgirlBlaze27** : And this here is the last Straw hat scene you'll ever get! Just kidding, maybe they'll show up again later, who knows? I hope you enjoyed it.

**chaoschix** : Don't you worry, I don't plan on abandoning this story any time soon, if ever. Considering the fact that I already figured out how to end it, I really shouldn't have a reason to stop…

Anyway, you guys are great.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece.

But I do own this mosquito bite on my foot. Errrgh.

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter VI**

"…I beg your pardon?"

Ace looked at Mel incredulously. She allowed her lips to curl into a broad smirk at his obvious confusion.

"Wait, so now you're telling me you're after _Black Beard_ as well?" he asked the young woman somewhat skeptically.

"Mh hm." she confirmed absentmindedly, as if this wasn't very important.

He couldn't believe it. Sitting next to him was a slightly mad young woman who was traveling around to find _Black Beard_, the notorious pirate and traitor. Not only that, but she was also making it sound as if she was doing this only because she didn't have anything better to do.

To say the least, Ace was speechless for once. Mel noticed the rather baffled look on his face and grinned. Then, knowing that he would probably want an explanation, she decided to spare him a lot of frustration and started:

"You see, this book here is a relatively poor attempt at a replica of the original book that belonged to and was written by my grandfather. It only happened a few weeks ago: _Black Beard and Co._ supposedly visited my home island and stole that book. This, I guess, is better than having them destroy the place, but my grandfather seems to think otherwise." she shrugged.

"What would they want with a book?" Ace muttered thoughtfully. To answer that, Mel closed the book that had been lying open on her lap and showed him the front cover.

"'Devil Fruits and Their Users'?"

"Precisely." she stated as she handed him the book. He flipped through the pages, skimmed through the words, obviously handwritten, and blinked at her. She blinked right back.

* * *

The Straw Hat crew had stared after Ace's little boat speeding off into the distance. They all seemed utterly shocked. 

"Unbelievable! How can such a decent, respectable person be Luffy's brother?" uttered the orange haired navigator.

"I was sure he'd be just as irresponsible as Luffy!" muttered the long-nosed, young man. The little reindeer creature had tears in his eyes.

"Brotherhood is such a wonderful thing!" he exclaimed.

"What a great guy…! How he cares about his brother and helps people in need!" said the swordsman, who was referring to Mel, apparently.

"I don't get it… the sea is a mysterious place." declared the blond cook, shaking his head, while the blue haired girl tried to calm everyone down. Luffy just grinned stupidly.

He then asked Nami, the navigator, to sew the little piece of paper he had received onto his hat. That way he wouldn't lose it anytime soon.

"I hope we get to meet them again soon!" Luffy said happily, looking off to where his brother's boat had disappeared.

* * *

"I repeat my question: what would they want with a book?" asked Ace after a few seconds. 

"Maybe because the original book, 'The _Complete_ Guide to Devil Fruits and Their Users' actually includes detailed information about most Devil Fruit Users. It's not really finished, since people like Pirate Alvida have only obtained their powers recently. I was supposed to inherit it so I could update it throughout my journey, but then that idiot decided to steal it."

"Detailed information? Such as?" Ace continued, slightly amused at how Mel was probably one of the rare ones that would dare to call _Black Beard_ an idiot.

"Dislikes, Weaknesses, etc. Some even include their favorite color, but I don't think that's very… crucial." Mel shrugged.

"Weaknesses? What do you mean?" Ace inquired, eyeing her thoughtfully.

"Besides their inability to swim, of course; some are mortally afraid of some very unlikely things, you know." she answered with a wicked grin. Ace wanted to hear some examples, but she refused to tell him, saying it was _private_.

"Your grandfather wrote a _book_ about those things. I don't think they're very private anymore." he commented, shaking his head.

"Right. I'm still not telling."

"Suit yourself." Ace shrugged.

Mel then told him that her 'mission' was to find _Black Beard_, get the book, and destroy it as soon as possible, now that her grandfather had realized that it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. She herself was writing this edition with less detail.

"Hmm…"

While Ace pondered on this, Mel stretched and yawned. The sun had sunk quite low already.

She froze when she turned around to face a huge, tattered ship drifting steadily towards them. The sails were torn; seaweed and other such things were draped over the sides. The whole thing looked like it had been rotting away on the bottom of the sea. All in all, Mel wondered how it was still floating on the water.

"Uh… Ace?"

"Eh?"

"There's a ghost ship behind us." she declared simply.

"What? Whoa!" Ace exclaimed as he turned around and saw exactly what she meant. He let out a low whistle.

The sheer size of the ship was breathtaking- not to mention the eeriness and fog surrounding it. They stared at it in awe. Ace faced Mel after a while and grinned broadly.

"Shall we?" he said.

"After you." Mel replied with an amused look, and the boat took off to approach the mysterious vessel.

* * *

It was silent. Not a single voice could be heard from the ship. That meant that there was either no one on board, or everybody was sleeping. Mel absently commented that it was probably the latter, although she meant eternal sleep rather than anything. 

"Last one on is a _marine_." Ace suddenly said with a smirk before jumping, again, unto a ship.

"Hey!" Mel laughed at his apparent childishness. With a small sigh, she unpacked her rope once again, not forgetting to secure the boat.

Ace landed on deck and glanced around for some sign of life. Nope, nothing. It really seemed as though Mel had been right when she implied that everyone might be dead. But he couldn't spot any bodies either. This was getting really strange.

The boards creaked unpleasantly and his footsteps seemed to echo as he walked across the deck towards the cabins. Ace blinked as he found himself holding the ring that was supposed to help him open the door.

'Ah well,' he thought and kicked the door open.

It promptly broke off of its hinges and crashed to the floor of the room, which was empty. The rats didn't count; they squeaked and hushed away into holes and gaps in the wall at the sound of the door falling. It was a fairly large cabin, although it only contained a desk and a chair. This had presumably been the captain's cabin or something like that.

Ace walked to the desk and opened a drawer in search of something…well, _anything_. He smirked when he found that it wasn't empty. In it lay something that looked like a diary. He reached for it and flipped through the pages for a while. Nothing special-so he put it back and shut the drawer. He was about to open another when he stopped dead at the sound of an unmistakable _scream_.

* * *

"Mel!"Ace called as he stormed out of the cabin. He was startled at what he saw: Mel, who had only just managed to climb on deck, was leaning against the railing for support with a pale look of horror on her face and a hand over her mouth. The strange thing about this was that he couldn't see what could have frightened her- there was nothing in sight. 

Mel stared as she felt her body tense in shock. In front of her were at least ten of the most appalling creatures she had ever laid eyes on. They were just standing there, limply, like trees.

'_Corpses' _was the first thing that came into her mind, but these weren't just any human corpses.

They looked as if they had spent many years on the bottom of the ocean. Rags were draped over their wilted bodies. What little skin was still left hung droopily on their skeletons. Their faces were gaunt, many only retained a bare skull, and few still had eyeballs hanging loosely in their sockets, as if they didn't quite fit.

The look of horror on Mel's face changed into that of repulsion the longer she gaped at the corpses. How were they _standing_, anyhow? She didn't even notice Ace hurtling out of a cabin at her first reaction towards these things. She had let out a short scream which broke immediately as she clamped a hand over her mouth.

Mel really didn't want to _wake_ these carcasses. Who knew what they would look like when they moved. Eww. She didn't want to find out. Then she finally noticed Ace standing right next to one of these horrors and gazing at her quizzically.

"Mel?" he said, apparently unaffected by a bunch of corpses...that were standing right next to him. Mel honestly didn't know what to say. It occurred to her suddenly that he might not be able to see these things.

"Can't you… can't you see them?" she stuttered, raising a finger to point at the cause of her distress. He looked at where she was pointing.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, thinking that she might be hallucinating or something. He took a step towards her.

"Don't-" she hissed, but too late.

A resounding _crash_ echoed as Ace walked straight into one of the corpses and it fell into heap in front of him. He stared. Now _that_ was really strange. He had definitely felt like he had bumped against something, and it sounded like that something had crashed to the floor, but he still couldn't see it.

"_Arrrr, livelings!_" a creepy voice drawled, seemingly out of nowhere.

Ace definitely heard _that_. So did Mel; she felt a shiver run down her spine as soon as the voice had started to speak.

As nobody bothered to answer the voice, it continued: "_Who are ye?"_

"I'm Ace."

"…and I'm Mel." They replied simply, seeing no harm in telling the voice their names.

_Creak, thump. Creak, thump._ Ace glanced at the stairs that led to the upper deck but again, he couldn't see anything.

* * *

Mel, however, now sincerely wished she couldn't. The body that now thumped down the stairs made all the other corpses look halfway decent. Apparently having been the (dead) captain; he or it looked like the very definition of the word _revolting_. 

He/it had a thick beard that mainly consisted of seaweed and something that looked like wet hair, only that it was the same color as the seaweed. It/he wore a very tattered old captain's hat on its skull, which also looked like it had been the home of small sea creatures for quite a while.

Corals were protruding out of one eye socket, in any case. The other contained something that was obviously supposed to be an eye, except that it didn't have a pupil. Filthy wet rags covered (most of) the body.

Mel observed all this as the figure walked, or limped, because it had a half-worn out wooden stump for one leg, towards her, since she was closest.

'Ew, eww, ewwwww!' she thought as the captain corpse reached out a ragged looking hand. It looked like he wanted her to shake it. Charming.

Ace watched Mel's expression turning into a grimace. He had been watching her eyes to see where the invisible whatever-it-was was located. Apparently, it seemed to be approaching her, judging by the way Mel tried to back away and looked as though she dearly wanted to jump off the ship.

"Err…" she muttered instead of 'eww', trying desperately to ignore the hand (although it was really hard, seeing that concentrating on any other part of the corpse was even worse). She was _not_ going to touch _that._ Even that rocket-jump Ace had taken her on seemed better than this now.

The corpse captain laughed. His laugh was, needless to say, not very pleasant. Mel cringed at the sound; Ace just stared.

"_Arrr, we 'aven't seen a lass for quite some time, aye?_" he barked, obviously amused at her disgust. The other bodies seemed to have come to life and leered at Mel. They let out laughs and cheers at their captain's words.

Mel, of course, didn't care the least bit about what the corpse was saying as she was eyeing some sort of worm crawling out of one of the captain's nostrils. Maybe it was a piece of his brain that had come alive and was striving for freedom. Although this thought was quite amusing, it didn't cover up the fact that it was _really_ disgusting.

She was now focusing on not getting into contact with any of these creatures. As long as they didn't touch her, she really didn't mind what they did.

Ace was, to say the least, surprised at the sudden outbreak of more than a dozen roars. Just how many of these things were there?

* * *

Fortunately for Mel, the captain then turned around to inspect Ace. 

"_And what's this 'ere? A pirate?_" he drawled maliciously as he stumped towards Ace. His inquiry wouldn't have been much of a bother if he hadn't sounded so skeptical. Ace raised an eyebrow at the spot where the voice had come from.

"Correct." he confirmed plainly, not bothering to give any further information. The other corpses crept around to where Ace was standing as Mel watched anxiously.

The captain and his crew of dead men let out another peal of laughter. One of them approached Ace silently. Mel glanced at Ace, then at the corpse getting closer to him. Ace saw what she was trying to tell him and smirked.

"_Well then, we'll have 'ta put yer through the test, aye boys?" _said the captain, followed by cheers from his men, before walking again towards Mel and giving her a mock bow. How he managed to do all this without falling apart, nobody would ever find out.

"_Me lady, if yer'll join us." _he growled as he offered her, this time, an arm. Mel looked like she had half a mind to slap him, but then she remembered her determination not to touch a corpse. Not to mention that the corpse didn't have much skin left anyway, except for that one layer hanging off of the side of his face.

She was however, spared the agony of having to think up an excuse for not taking the arm by a blood-curdling scream. It came, of course, not from Ace, but from the corpse that had approached him. Apparently it had thought that punching the pirate would be funny, although it probably regretted doing so as it went up in flames.

"Ah, _now_ I can see you." Ace said, grinning wickedly at the flaming corpse that was running around, screaming.

All the others seemed to freeze instantly as they stared at Ace. Mel gritted her teeth anxiously when she saw the look of outrage forming on the captain's face. It was amazing how much expression a bare skull could show.

"_Devil Fruit." _was what they suddenly hissed and growled as they rounded on the (still living) pirate.

* * *

This was probably a very good time to _run_ for Mel, since nobody was paying attention to her, but she didn't even consider it. If there was one thing she hated more than dead, moving creatures, it was an utterly unfair fight. Not only was Ace outnumbered, but he couldn't even _see_ these things! 

And then the air was full of screams and war cries. The captain of the lot was the first to find a (very rusty) sword that he used to charge at Ace.

"Right in front of you!" Mel yelled, although she knew that she really didn't need to have told Ace that. He could very well figure out from where they were attacking him just by listening to their "_ARRRRR_"s.

Ace seemed to be doing quite well on his own- most of the dead crew burst into flames and crumbled to bits. Some tried to 'save' themselves (although…they were technically already dead anyway) by jumping overboard after they had been set on fire.

Mel wasn't stupid enough to barge into the fighting; she didn't have much of a desire to die yet. She simply stood on one side, yelling out directions and such. Somehow, however, the number of undead pirates seemed to be increasing by the second.

'Can this get any worse?' thought Mel when she tried to kick a corpse that had approached her but was blocked by skeleton hands grabbing hold of her foot. She tried to wrench out of the corpse's grip, but found that it was almost impossible.

By now, she utterly regretted ignoring Ace's advice of getting boots instead of sandals long ago, because skeleton fingers were now wrapped around her right (nearly bare) foot. How nice.

Her desperate desire to get this thing off of her helped her in doing quite a stunt. Since she couldn't reach the corpse with her hands (not that she really wanted to), she jumped, did a flip in midair and trimly kicked off the skeleton's skull in the process with her left foot.

Although this resulted in her falling on the floor with a resounding _thump_, she was satisfied to see the corpse collapse into a pile of bones before her.

"A-HA!" she exclaimed triumphantly and noticed another corpse sneaking up behind Ace.

"Behind." she shouted simply before allowing herself a grin at the sight of burning corpses running around in the background.

Soon however, Mel had to yelp and get out of the way as a flaming body almost ran into her. She was getting rather annoyed now while Ace was almost bored. But then, of course, the situation got worse.

It started to rain.

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments: **And this is where I stop! Mwarharharhar! Am I evil or am I evil? Well, it's better than not writing a chapter at all, isn't it? Hehehe. Anyway, you'll have to wait a bit for the next chapter… I don't know when I'll have the time to write anything. School starts again next week (naaaaah) and I have a lot of stuff (shopping, mainly) to do. 

Oh wow, I actually managed to update within ten days. Bet you weren't expecting that, eh?

Guess what. I got exactly _five_ reviews for Chapter V. This is getting kind of weird… Does this mean I get six reviews for this chapter (It'd better!...I mean, please?)?

Thank you!

**Fiery-Wolf-Angel :** Err… here's another Straw Hat scene! I don't think it can be called a scene though… more like a 'moment'. I hope you liked this chapter!

**TrunksgirlBlaze27 :** I have a really strange feeling that Ace fans and Zoro fans are also Shanks and Mihawk fans! Well, at least, that's me. Someone should do some research about this. Hehe. Enjoy this chapter.

**Blizzardrake :** Thanks! And don't worry, I will certainly write more. Have fun and keep reading!

**ace-lover 3 :** Hahahahahahahaha! Best review ever.I will give you a few hints here, but no more: they _will _be together in the end, but she _won't_ join White Beard. Oh no, I said too much! I shall not spoil any more of your fun, hahaha. Oh yeah, and Mel's not going to eat a Devil Fruit anytime soon, either. Don't worry, it'll be a good story anyway – thanks for the suggestions, though!

**Artemis die Jaegerin :** Oh wow, German. Das gibt's doch nicht! I hätte nie gedacht das ich einen Deutschen.. äh.. review kriegen würde. Toll. Ich kann zwar nicht mehr so tadellos Deutsch sprechen (hab schon seit Jahren keine Deutschen Freunde mehr... auf jeden Fall nicht in der Schule) aber es ist schön es wieder mal zu tun. Lebst du in Deutschland? Ace und Mel werden natürlich am Ende zusammen sein, klar. Und das mit Mel... naja, es macht halt unheimlichen Spaβ so eine (komische) Person zu erfinden. Mary Sues werden ja langsam langweilig. Also, viel Spaβ beim lesen.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Ace fans are usually found to be Zoro fans, as well as Shanks fans (and everyone thinks Mihawk is cool). Haha. But of course, I don't own them or any other One Piece-related characters/plot.

Some comments on my style of writing: I _really_ try hard to get my grammar straight, especially because fanfictions are usually viewed as bad pieces of writing (and because good grammar is the first big step to a good story). So, if any of you find a painfully obvious (or completely hidden) mistake, don't hesitate to laugh at- uh, tell me. I will fix it right away (unless I think it is better the way it is). Thank you.

Oh yeah. Chapter six really _was_ kind of inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean (the new one), as a few of you presumed. My friend and I went to watch it some time ago (I think it should be classified as a Comedy. We were laughing through the whole thing).

That doesn't mean that I suddenly decided to put in some dead pirates because they looked cool (ahem) in the movies! The movie just helped me describe them better (I had always wanted some dead pirates to annoy Mel). Hehehe. Sorry for writing such gross stuff, but it's just so much fun (riiight)!

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter VII**

"Errrgh!"

A frustrated growl came from Mel at the sound of thunder and rain. The now moist smell of rotten carcasses was really not very enjoyable, to say the least. She generally liked rain, but only if she was safely inside a cabin or a room, which meant that she only liked the rain minus the part where you get drenched and catch a cold afterwards.

Ace almost laughed at Mel's irritation but was quickly distracted by the fact that fire wasn't working very well in the sudden heavy rain. Some of his attacks, of course, still worked somewhat since the rain couldn't really stop corpses from exploding. It slowed down the fighting anyway, and Mel wasn't happy to see that there were still quite a lot of undead creatures ready to kill them.

She was still shouting random directions to Ace which was now a lot harder, what with the heavy downpour and occasional peal of thunder.

Naturally, the corpses that got too far into her comfort zone were promptly kicked or thrown overboard by the aggravated woman. It seemed as though she had gotten over her determination not to get into contact with the bodies.

It felt like hours and hours of fighting to Mel, who certainly hadn't had such an experience before, and was steadily receiving more blows than she was dishing out. Her body would be covered all over with nasty bruises as soon as this was over.

Since not all of the corpses really had weapons, they stuck to kicking, punching, and the occasional attempt in throwing Mel overboard. Not that it would have achieved much if they had actually succeeded, since it was very unlikely for her to drown; and nobody got near enough Ace to even touch him properly.

* * *

The fighting was of course, not at all dull anymore. By now Mel had become, without even noticing, a big part of the battle. With no weapon whatsoever and not too much skill in offense, she was forced to think of creative ways to avoid getting killed (or thrown into the raging sea). 

When she found herself holding a skeletal arm that had come clean off of its owner, she proceeded in using it to whack other corpses until the arm slipped out of her grip and she had to go on with hand-to-hand combat.

She was now adjusting to the fact that bones and skulls rolling around were nothing more than disgusting (and therefore very effective) weapons. It was a lot easier to knock down the enemy with this knowledge, even if randomly flinging around skulls wasn't all that accurate.

Once, Mel managed to somehow hit Ace on the shoulder with one of these spare skulls, thus receiving a frown and a "What was that for?" She grinned apologetically; her aim wasn't much to rely on.

Needless to say, Ace was thoroughly amused at the few glimpses he got of Mel chasing after, or being chased by, invisible beings. The sight of the normally composed girl running around and fighting in a very unladylike manner was more than enough to make him laugh- and the concentrated look of utter disgust on her face was absolutely priceless.

They later figured out that Ace's 'blindness' had probably been caused by the fact that he was a Devil Fruit user, and the corpses had undoubtedly been creatures of the sea. Mel said that this had actually been beneficial to him, since he hadn't been distracted by the fact that he was actually fighting a bunch of dead people.

* * *

Then came a time when Mel was seriously out of tricks and was considering a trip over the railing. The corpses, there were still many, were definitely encouraging her to do so by constant attempts on chucking her into the sea. But since she didn't want to do something that evil/dead people would approve of, she decided against it. 

The rain poured down on them as if the very sea had turned upside down. They, not to mention the smelly skeletons, were absolutely drenched by the time the moon had come up to loom over the ship.

Tired, hungry, and irritated, Mel finally reached the end of her patience when a corpse she was trying to tear down kicked her. Not that she would have terribly minded (since this had already happened several times), but the force of it sent her toppling straight into a pile of rags and bones.

One dead eyeball stared at her out of a disembodied skull that lay next to her head. Lovely. The rain seemed to be mocking her as she tried to jump up from the most nauseating thing she'd ever fallen into. She yelped when she slipped on the wet, slimy floor and promptly collapsed back unto the heap of nasty now-dead-again pirates.

Later she was very glad that Ace had been too busy wiping out the rest of the enemy to see her. He probably would have teased her about this for years.

In any case, Mel was not at all happy about lying there amongst reeking heaps of death, and finally she decided that her good temper was no longer of any use - after chucking the one eyed skull right at the corpse that had kicked her.

"Alright, that's _it_." she snarled through gritted teeth, "Go BACK to where ye came from ye-" and then she made a sound halfway between a growl and a bark. Ace told her sometime later that it had sounded like some terrible unworldly curse word.

Surprisingly, everyone froze. Mel blinked, half of her fury blown away by this unexpected reaction. The corpses, those that were still moving, turned to stare at her. She stared right back. Then, suddenly, a round of cheers broke out as the undead pirates cackled maliciously.

"_Aye, then. To the bottom of the sea it is!" _yelled the captain, who, although he had been the first to attack Ace, had somehow survived. At his command, the rest of the ghostly crew ran off in different directions, away from Ace.

Ace and Mel shared puzzled looks. The ship then suddenly swayed and gave an abrupt jerk that almost sent Mel back into the small mountain of bones. She caught herself just in time and instead stumbled to the railing with Ace rushing to her side.

"We're sinking!" they informed each other in unison. Immediately, a couple of corpses seemed to appear out of nowhere, trying to keep them from escaping. They reached out for Mel who was nearest as she yelped at the sight of them.

Ace then instinctively took her by the waist and pulled her off the ship and unto his boat, which was threatening to sink as well. He wrenched out his dagger and cut the rope that had attached the boat to the ghost ship.

Mel held on to her bag which had miraculously stayed on the boat as they shot off just in time. They could hear wicked laughter echoing from the huge ship rapidly descending into the waves.

As the ship's mast finally disappeared as well, the rain seemed to diminish by the second until it died down and the sea grew calm once more.

* * *

Ace held out a flaming hand so Mel could warm up a bit. He himself was already dry, his Devil Fruit ability allowing him to do so very quickly. Mel, on the other hand, was still as wet as anything.

She had wrapped her towel over her shoulders (her bag was conveniently waterproof, and so nothing in it had been affected by the unexpected rain) and was now squeezing some of the water out of her hair. She only stopped chattering her teeth when she was offered the sudden warmth.

"Hmm, that was a bit disappointing." muttered Ace after a while, referring back to how the fight against those dead pirates had ended so abruptly.

"Only because you couldn't _see_ them." Mel replied grumpily as she remembered just how revolting the whole ordeal had been.

"Well, still-" he tried to continue but was cut short by a glare.

"Be thankful you didn't _drown,_ Mr. I-can't-swim." she muttered, trying not to smirk at his recklessness.

"You're the one who's still wet." he commented, shaking a burning finger at her.

She laughed and shook her head violently to spray him with more water. A small water fight broke out between them but ceased promptly when Mel yawned and declared that she was about to die of tiredness.

Ace grinned at that and let her fall asleep. How she could sleep so peacefully after all she had gone through, he couldn't guess.

He kept a foot burning near her sleeping form to keep her warm and spent the night dozing off while gazing up at the stars.

* * *

"Aaak!"

Mel woke abruptly the next morning by the sound of crackling flames and the smell of burning…hair? She let out a yelp as she sat up, only to see that her hair had caught on fire. Luckily, only the tips were slightly singed when she swiftly put out the offending flame with some sea water.

"Ace, didn't I tell you not to stay on fire while you're sleeping?" she inquired after splashing some more water unto Ace's face.

"You looked cold." he answered after waking up completely and grinning sheepishly at her.

"Hmph." was all Mel could say to that before getting out her retractable fishing rod; she was getting very hungry for some fried fish.

There were very few things that Mel could say that she was actually good at, and fishing was definitely one of them. The first time she had managed to lure a dozen or so fish unto the boat in less than a few minutes, Ace had honestly been impressed. As these fish were usually as large as two adult feet, it was more than enough for the both of them.

Needless to say, Ace's ability was very useful here, considering that he could fry up the fish instantly. So, it was only a matter of minutes until they could eat. After they had done so, they would dump the remains back into the sea and go back to skipping over the water on the little boat as they had done for quite a few days now.

Mel always found it amusing as to how their roles seemed to be switched. The girl fished and the boy cooked. Ten years from now, she would say, they would probably look back at this and laugh.

* * *

Marine headquarters- the one place where it was, apparently, necessary to curse about people behind their backs. As the targets were usually infamous pirates, nobody seemed to think that this was wrong at all. 

"Last seen in Nanohana, eh?" muttered an elderly marine, one of the highest in not only age but rank. He sat towards the middle of a large oval table.

All the men that were seated on one side wore black suits. The other side had no chairs, but there stood a marine, one that had been sent by Smoker as a messenger.

"Yes, sir." he confirmed.

"Why don't we just ask her to come quietly? The girl doesn't look like much of a threat…" the old man said, turning to another high-ranking officer.

"She could, however, become a great aid to the government if Hina's claims about her were to be true." the other implied. "And a great enemy as well, when it comes to that."

"But what's this I hear about her being with a pirate?"

The young marine, looking a bit nervous about being in a room with such important people, replied quickly: "Sir, it looks as though she's traveling with _Fire fist Ace._"

"Interesting."

"We'll have to act fast then, before she becomes too friendly with pirates." declared another important-looking marine officer.

"Indeed." replied the first.

"Should we add to the bounty?" this was followed by murmurs and indecisive ramblings.

"Thirty five million." they finally agreed and so the command was given to send out new posters.

* * *

"Oh, did I show you this already?" Mel remarked, pulling a piece of paper from her bag.

"What-" Ace was about to ask what it was when she held it up to his face and he burst out laughing. It was the _Wanted_ sign of Mel she had torn off a wall in the streets of Nanohana the day before.

"_Ten_ million Beli?" he asked finally, still grinning from laughing so much.

"I know- they're mad." she said grinning as well. They then went into a discussion as to why the government would risk spending so much money just to get to Mel. It was obvious that they had noticed her partial immunity to Devil Fruit powers, but how much did they really know?

"Well, they don't know my name yet." Mel pointed out.

"They probably do by now, and this picture is all they need, anyhow." Ace replied. Then, with a sly smirk, he added, "Why don't you join _White Beard_, now that you've got some bounty on you?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Riiight. I'm not joining who-knows-how-many pirates _just_ because the government wants me." she said skeptically.

She also told him that she highly valued individuality, so much that she would never accept to being a part of an enormous crew, and would therefore probably end up running away like _Black Beard_. They joked around for a bit until Mel got into a fit of laughter when Ace told her that if that ever happened, she could call herself _No Beard._

"At least we can shake hands on finding _Black Beard _together." said Ace after they had calmed down, offering her a hand (which wasn't on fire).

"That would be lovely." Mel smiled and assured him that she would try not to be too much of a bother as they shook, or rather slapped, each other's hands.

* * *

Ah, Vacation Island, such a beautiful and crowded place. In fact, it was probably the best place for a pirate to get caught by the navy. Not that any pirate really cared about this; and so it was quite normal to see some pirates here and there in sunglasses and flower patterned shirts. 

Ace had stopped at this island to gather information on _Black Beard_. Mel wasn't so keen on joining in as she was still very sore from all the fighting, and so she set out to find a nice place to rest on the beach.

After a bit of walking, or limping, she finally found an unoccupied patch of sand complete with the shadow of a big palm tree and a beach chair. She plumped down on it and let out a satisfied sigh as she stretched out her aching legs. Then she folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes for a quick nap.

Soon, however, she woke up at the sound of voices growing near to her rather isolated spot of land. Judging by the heavy footsteps, they were a bunch of men, or even pirates. Mel tried to ignore them by pretending to sleep, but was surprised when they seemingly stopped right in front of her chair. She stole a quick glance out of barely open eyelids and saw that a few men where standing around her in a semicircle.

They were leering at her with smirks on their rather ugly faces. One of them stepped closer and examined her from head to toe, his lips curling into a disgusting grin.

"Yep, that's her. _Thirty five_ million Beli." he drawled, apparently under the impression that the young woman was still asleep.

"Why don't we keep her? She looks worth more than _that_ to me." a short man on the far right commented.

"Well then, missy, looks like you'll have to come with us!" the first fat man barked as he went to grab Mel. He stopped dead when her eyes shot open abruptly and she glared at him as if he was an annoying bug in her face.

"Really?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms, not bothering to sit up. She grinned wickedly as she caught sight of an unmistakable orange colored hat behind the small gathering of men.

"Yeah! Really!" one of the men answered hastily as if trying to assure himself. The others nodded vigorously, seemingly a bit put off at the confident attitude of this helpless young woman.

"_Really_, now?" came a voice from behind them. They turned around to find Ace gazing at them with his arms crossed, looking mildly interested. It wasn't long before they bolted off in different directions, screaming like little girls.

Mel laughed heartily at the sight, almost falling from her chair. Ace just grinned broadly and sat down on the warm sand next to her.

"I'm up to thirty five million." Mel commented when she got back into a comfortable position.

"Looks like you'll need to learn how to defend yourself then." replied Ace, giving her a nudge and smirking.

"A little girl like me? Impossible." she declared, giving him a dramatically incredulous look.

Ace looked at her thoughtfully and agreed, "You're right."

Mel let out an outrageous huff at his response and dumped her bag at him. He caught it effortlessly, grinning as he told her that she ought to stay behind him wherever they went from now on.

Then he took off running back to his boat with Mel's bag in his hands. Mel chased after him, stumbling across the sand, laughing and shouting. Neither of them bothered about the strange looks they received from almost everyone on the beach.

And so they left the island and traveled on to wherever the wind took them for the next few days…

- to be continued –

* * *

**Comments**: How's that? I updated just as I received my sixth review for chapter six. Guess what, reviews actually do help with... updating.. speed. When TrunksgirlBlaze27 (Thank you!) literally wrote a review within the hour that I updated, I immediately started on this chapter. Even though it was 2 o'clock in the morning. Yep, the power of positive reviews is overwhelming. 

Tomorrow is Registration Day for our school so I'm going to be quite busy from now on. Who knows how long it'll take till the next chapter! Hmm.. lots of reviews will definitely help (hint hint). Hehehe.

Thank you so much, my regular reviewers! You are truly awesome and deserve longer chapters (which is why this chapter is especially long… kind of).

**TrunksgirlBlaze27** : Again, I was honestly amazed when you reviewed so quickly. Thank you for such a thorough review, I was very pleased. Yep, Ace and Mel will be teasing each other for quite a while… this story is getting longer than I expected. The romance part will probably come in very slowly (and yes, I'm definitely putting in some romance… sometime… I think). I'm glad you like it, and please continue reading!

**Fiery-Wolf-Angel **: Maybe I should put in a warning the next time I write so much gross stuff… oops, too late. Yeah, don't you just hate it when people skip over a whole lot of description just because it can be summed up in a few words? They should go write for a newspaper or something… honestly.  
'Pirates of the Caribbean' is, of course, a great movie (both of 'em). Davy Jones made me write the last chapter (…right)! Have fun in your last weeks of freedom. Haha.

**Artemis die Jaegerin** : Natürlich darfst du deine reviews auf Deutsch schreiben! Ich bin wirklich froh das mich jemand wieder mal dazu zwingt Deutsch zu reden. Ich hoffe das du nicht zu lang gewartet hast, ich hab so schnell wie möglich ge-updated (Naja.. eigentlich hab ich auf den sechsten review gewartet. hehe). Jetzt musst du warscheinlich noch einen Monat oder so warten. Ich muss ja wieder zur Schule (neeeeeiiin!).

**ace-lover 3** : Somebody catch that girl! (Calls the police) She went that way! Okay, let's see. Kissing will not be happening immediately, seeing that these people have only known each other for a few days. You'll get a lot of cute scenes though, don't worry- but there will not be any Ace Juniors running around any time soon. That's just… disturbing. Anything else, why not? Now stop tripping around and review.

**guest **: Thank you! I will.

**AppleSauce **: Congratulations, you were review number six and you triggered this update! Get yourself a hug from everyone who looked forward to that. You don't want to be a teacher? I do. Hehe. Thank you very much, I really tried to make the beginning interesting, and it looks like I've succeeded. I hope you can read the whole thing soon. Please review again when you do!

* * *

Thank you, thank you (bows). The next chapter shall be written as soon as it can be ! I hope.

Please review, it really helps.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece or any of its characters/plot. Most of the plot in this chapter originates from those little drawings at the beginning of the One Piece Chapters. It starts in Chapter 272, entitled 'Ace's hunt for Black Beard'. There's a whole bunch of 'em… So, yeah, I don't own that plot. But I _do_ own over fifty reviews! Huh-yeah!

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter VIII**

"Hullo!"

Mel greeted the girl cheerfully. Ace had gone to find another restaurant in, what Mel referred to as, the most gorgeous town they had ever stopped by. The houses and streets were made of stones overgrown with all kinds of plant life. Small stone bridges connected the interweaving lanes; even the rooftops seemed so close to each other that they were almost touching- all this under a magnificently blue sky.

Mel couldn't get enough of the view and had therefore journeyed a bit along the small river that cut through the island. That's how she ended up helping Moda, the girl she met by the river.

Moda had been filling up a few buckets of water when the blue haired woman strode along and greeted her. She was surprised to see a stranger wandering along this rather secluded area of the island where there was nothing but grass and the little river. They got into a friendly chat as Mel asked the girl a little about the island and helped her with the pails.

Moda had middle length blonde hair, a cute face, and charming manners. Mel was delighted to see that the girl lived in a little farmhouse and owned quite a number of petite cows. The girls were on their third trip to the river to get more water, laughing and chatting animatedly, when Moda suddenly gasped and Mel almost tripped over her own feet at the sight of something very big floating down the stream.

* * *

Ace had forgotten that he had no more money before he gulfed down quite a few plates of food in the little restaurant he had come across. So he apologized briefly and escaped the wrath of the cook by jumping over rooftops and looking for Mel. She wasn't anywhere in sight, and thus he decided to go on seeking information on _Black Beard. _

He asked a few fishermen near the port whether they had seen or heard of a big man with a black beard. They told him about their doctor who, apparently, fit the vague description, but before they could tell him any more, Ace had already disappeared to find this man.

Shortly afterwards, Dr. Black Beard, the resident medic of the island who had never even set foot on a ship in his life, found himself being attacked by a young pirate for no apparent reason. Needless to say, he was not very happy with receiving a kick in the face, and together with a few outraged townspeople and the angry cook who had finally caught up, kicked Ace into the nearby river as punishment for his foolishness.

* * *

So was it that Ace was found floating down the river, half drowned, by Moda and Mel. They almost let him drift by in their astonishment, but Moda quickly regained sense and rushed to fish out the poor young man. She was honestly clueless as to why the older female was trying to hold back laughter as she proceeded in reviving the half drowned pirate. 

"Hey Ace, wake up." Mel slapped the boy's face repeatedly in an attempt to wake him up, not really worried about him, but trying to figure out how in the world he had managed to fall into the water. The situation, nevertheless, struck her as being somehow incredibly funny, and so it proved very hard for her not to break into a fit of laughter. She held back for Moda's sake, but couldn't help letting out a tiny chuckle when water shot out of Ace's mouth like a fountain.

Having briefly explained how she knew Ace, Mel then helped Moda with pulling him to the cottage after picking up his hat (which the girl had miraculously managed to fish out as well). They seized one foot each and dragged him down the river bank- not the best way to move a body, but hey, it worked.

Mel watched admiringly as Moda busily tucked away Ace with motherly care. The girl looked to be twelve at the most, yet she seemed to be living all by herself. Mel had never been one to patiently take care of others, and so she felt a sort of respect for the younger girl who was now removing some of Ace's larger accessories to hang up for drying.

Moda on the other hand, was in awe of the blue haired woman next to her. She admired her as she would an older sister. Mel, to her eyes, was extremely courageous, witty, and pleasant- not to mention pretty. When she told her this, she received a light laugh and an amused "Thank you." from Mel.

* * *

Ace awoke in the last place that he would have expected to wake up. He was in a small cottage, by the looks of it. When he had been thrown in the river, he had only hoped that Mel would find him, since she had told him that she would be wandering along the water for a while. Mel didn't own a cottage here, did she? 

But sure enough, he found Mel squatting next to another girl in the grass once he stumbled out the door, yawning. The girls were ranting on and on about trivial things while they watched a couple of small cows grazing. They only noticed Ace when he came to a halt behind them and cleared his throat.

"Were you trying to commit suicide by jumping in the river?" was the first thing Mel asked him, standing up and placing her hands on her hips. Her tone was serious, but the amused look on her face was quite unmistakable.

"I seem to have failed spectacularly." he replied with a smirk as Mel finally let out the laughter she had been holding in for a while now.

"Are you alright?" asked Moda with wide, worried eyes. Ace assured her that he was, in fact, feeling very well.

"Thank you for saving me." he said to the girl, smiling warmly. Moda blushed slightly and suddenly found her feet very interesting.

"What, don't _I_ get a 'thank you'?" inquired Mel, having recovered from her laughing fit to cross her arms, pretending to be offended. Ace blinked at her.

"_You_ left me behind to be thrown into the water by a bunch of mad people!" he declared, crossing his arms as well and frowning emphatically.

Moda gazed openmouthed at the two supposed-adults who were suddenly engaged in a fully fledged, and rather childish argument. The odd thing was that neither of them seemed to be mad at the other, and so it sounded rather like a normal conversation, except that there were a lot of implied insults in the words they chose to hurl at each other.

They only stopped when Moda offered them some fresh, delicious milk. Mel gladly accepted the drink since she hadn't eaten anything yet and was getting quite hungry. Ace grinned at the sight of his friend's content expression and thanked Moda for all the hospitality.

"You're welcome." the girl replied happily. Then she asked the two to stay there for a minute while she went to fetch something from the cottage.

"Aren't you supposed to be full? I thought you ate already." Mel inquired when Ace downed his rather large glass of milk in one gulp. He just shrugged. She studied his expression for a while before finally concluding:

"You didn't pay again, eh?"

"My oh my, how _did_ you find out?" Ace asked incredulously, smirking at the semi-serious look on her face. She rolled her eyes at him.

"No _wonder_ they threw you in the river! You totally deserved it." Mel declared, the corners of her mouth twitching with mirth.

"I deserve to _die_ for_ that_? How about all those _other _things I did?" the pirate questioned innocently, his smirk turning into a lopsided grin.

"You want to know what you deserve? Oh, I'll _tell_ you what-" Mel started with a wicked grin before she was cut off by Moda's hurried announcement that she was back. The girl had sensed another argument brewing up- honestly; she couldn't imagine how these two managed to get along so well while they seemed to be insulting the other whenever they found the chance. The fact that they never seemed to get mad at each other was even stranger.

"Could you do me a favor?" Moda asked the two adults a bit shyly, holding up an envelope.

"As long as it doesn't involve killing-"

"-or jumping into the river." Mel finished Ace's sentence with a sly look in his direction which he replied with a smirk. Moda shook her head wildly at these ideas, assuring that it had nothing to do with such things. The envelope only contained a letter to be delivered to the nearest navy base.

They stared blankly at her at the mention of the letter's destination. Then Mel burst out laughing while Ace assured Moda that they would certainly do her this favor. Moda thanked them cheerfully, only slightly confused at Mel's odd behavior, and waved after them a few minutes later as she watched their boat float away along the river.

* * *

There it was: the second division navy base in the Grand Line- generally referred to as base G-2. It really was only a few hours distance from Moda's island. Then again, Ace's boat wasn't just any other vessel that depended on the wind for movement. 

"I'm hungry," declared Ace rather randomly as they observed the small island on which the navy base was built.

"Guess what," replied Mel a bit grumpily, "I haven't eaten anything yet."

"Well then, we'll have to find some food, won't we?" the pirate stated unnecessarily, steering the little boat towards the western side of the island.

The poor guard they came across was promptly knocked out and stripped of his shirt and hat.

"So, what's the plan?" inquired Mel offhandedly, eyeing the unconscious marine with pity.

"We infiltrate the navy base." answered Ace as he put on the marine's uniform shirt. "And you hold on to this." he added, taking off his orange hat and promptly placing it on Mel's head. He smirked at the dumbfounded look on her face and found himself wondering whether she could look any more surprised. Curiosity got the better of him, so he succumbed to his sudden impulse and gave the young woman a quick peck on the cheek.

His smirk turned into a satisfied grin as he turned the corner and disappeared from Mel's sight, not before getting a good look at an unmistakable blush making its way across her cheeks.

* * *

Ace had quite an adventure snooping around the navy base until he found the marine cafeteria. An elderly woman, the cook's wife, laughed good-naturedly at the sight of one of the young marines piling up two trays with as much food as he could fit on them. 

Everyone was utterly shocked when this particular marine knocked out one of his fellow men when he heard him talking rudely about a certain pirate called _White Beard_. Throughout the commotion, someone suddenly recognized the violent marine as _Fire fist Ace- _which brought immediate chaos.

Ace somehow managed to escape the angry mob of marines, only to run into a marine captain who ended up unconscious on the floor. And so _Fire fist Ace_ took the man's clothes and disguised himself as a marine officer.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mel was having trouble containing her desire to poke fun at the many guards she could spot from her position. After she had gotten over the initial shock at Ace's sudden show of affection, she found herself feeling strangely giddy. 

First she had considered following Ace into the gates, but had decided against it when she realized that she couldn't really go and disguise herself as a marine. So she stayed near Ace's boat, having stashed away the unconscious marine guard, and lamenting over the fact that Ace's orange hat probably clashed horribly with her dark blue hair.

Within a few minutes, however, Mel started tapping her foot impatiently, and decided that she couldn't wait any longer. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she snuck behind a couple of marine guards who were apparently debating over whose weapon was more effective.

"_This _baby can kill anyone with one blow." one of them was saying, patting his gun affectionately.

"Really?" the other replied monotonously. He sounded rather annoyed at his companion. Mel had to suppress a chuckle.

The first marine, obviously disappointed at his partner's lack of response, now pulled out a small, black and circular- "Put away that bomb, Bob!"

"Oh _now_ you pay attention, huh?" he grinned stupidly at the other's reaction. He then decided (the mature marine he was) to scare his companion by lighting a match and pretending to set off the small but lethal bomb.

The other marine, of course, was not amused, "Dude, stop it," he muttered, nervously eyeing the little flame.

"Nuh uh!" the stupid one replied, waving the match dangerously close to the fuse. Observing the scene from behind a big boulder, Mel couldn't help rolling her eyes at the marine's behavior.

And as all things come to an end, this ridiculous display of immaturity turned abruptly into a life threatening situation by a sudden gust of wind. The small fire flickered and found a hold on the fuse, just before Bob, the idiot, dropped his match.

"What the..! Put it out, put it out!" yelped the more sensible marine, resisting the sudden urge to punch the other man in the head.

"Aak! YOU put it out!" shouted Bob, hurriedly offering the bomb to the other man. All would have been lost if Mel hadn't stepped in and saved the marines' backsides.

'Run? Nope, not enough time. So-get rid of the bomb.' was the conclusion she instantly drew in her head before jumping out from her hiding place. Ignoring the shocked expressions on the marines' faces, she yanked the bomb out of Bob's hand and threw it as far as she could out into the ocean.

This wouldn't have been a problem if any other person had been the pitcher. Ace, for example, would have sent the little bomb flying beyond the horizon to disappear with a small glint of faraway light. Mel just wasn't good at this kind of thing. While the bomb did hurl a safe distance away from them, it also happened to explode right on top of an incoming ship.

"...Oops." Mel muttered as she observed the fire spreading rapidly over the very important looking ship. The two marines beside her had conveniently fainted at the sound of the explosion.

* * *

"Ugh." Ace almost spat out the coffee he had just sipped. Sitting on a windowsill in his newly acquired marine officer's uniform, the pirate found out that the bitterness of their coffee was probably what made most of these men look constantly grumpy. He was however, not long occupied by these thoughts because of the sudden commotion throughout the hallway he was in. 

A group of marines rushed past him, shouting something about someone having set fire to the navy's _Top Secret_ Scout ship. Ace couldn't help wondering whether Mel had had something to do with this. Grinning at the image of Mel laughing like a maniac over a burning ship, he followed the marines out.

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments** Mkay. Yeah, I know, bad ending. But it would have taken about three more weeks to finish this chapter if I had decided to cover the whole .. uh.. marine base plot. It's been almost a month, I'm sorry that I didn't update earlier. As I said before, I'm in school again, and this year happens to be packed with all kinds of activities! Yay.

AAAAaaand, guess what? I've got something for you guys! Go to my profile to see some sketches I drew of Mel! They are, of course, not colored, because I had no time. And I'm not particularly good at coloring either! I like pencil sketches. I think the third one turned out to be the best. I like it. Any suggestions for sketches are always welcome!

Why don't we just hold a little .. ah… "event". Along with your review of this chapter (you may not forget to review!), please give me some suggestions on what I should draw. I can't really draw Ace, so don't even think about it. Anything with _Mel_. You can ask for certain clothing, hairstyles, actions (?)- anything, really. As long as its appropriate. I will choose one of the many suggestions (that I shall look forward to) and actually draw it! That drawing will probably be up before the next chapter, so you might want to check my profile after a week or so.

Thanks! I hope you like my drawing style..

Victoria: Aww, thanks! Keep reviewing; it might help with the updating speed! Haha.

Spiritual Stone : Of course I'll keep going. This story is like my baby (hmm..?). I'm glad you like it!

TrunksgirlBlaze27 : Thanks for understanding! I'll try to update faster next time… maybe. Mmmyeah. Anyway, thank you for always reviewing! You get to pat yourself on the back.

xX-Avast-Xx : Ooh, I like your nickname. Hm, interesting description of Mel. I guess she is fairly believable after all. Thanks!

Blizzardrake : Heh, that's one of those Mel-ish lines. She says that kind of stuff all the time (because I make her do so…of course). Thank you for the review!

Solo Loco Ellingson-Rose : Yes, dead people are cool. In the sense of temperature, that is. I hope you read chapter seven by now! Thanks for the review!

lil1diva : Wow, you actually bothered to review every single one of my chapters! That's awfully nice of you. Thank you very much!

Artemis die Jaegerin: Hm, ja die beiden verhalten sich wirklich wie Geschwister. Das hab' ich mir gar nicht gedacht. Du wirst schon sehen was den beiden noch passiert. Mwahahahaha.

madlibs44 : Yup, that it is. I think that English is not a very suitable language for … manga. So I try to keep the manga-ness to a minimum I try to make it more natural and realistic. Thanks for noticing that! Mel really is a lot of fun to work with (?).

EternallyJinxed : Yah, isn't that scary when that happens? Not that it ever happens to me… (probably a good thing). Well, this one has a bit of romance in it.. don't worry, there'll be more. Even though Romance is not one of this story's main attributes, it is definitely a part of it. Yeah, none of my close friends like anime either. It's so sad. They're totally missing out. Thanks for reviewing!

ace-lover 3 : No review? Uh oh (shifty eyes). Hey police! She went the _other_ way! Mkay they're gone now. Oh look! Exactly what you wanted, a peck on the cheek. Don't worry, I'm planning on some more romance in the later chapters, so you can look forward to that. Auntie Em, another OC (and I'm not revealing anything but her name right now), will appear in the later chapters- until then, Mel's past will remain a mystery. Not that there's much to it. Thanks for another funny review.

firefistACE888888 : .. on what point? Haha. Be sure to be more specific next time. Thanks for reviewing!

fluffywhitekitsune: Oh wow. You actually read it more than once? I wonder how many people do that.. besides you and me. Thanks for the cookies. You're awesome!

Noir : The enthusiasm! Anyway, here's the update. Wasn't that fast? Haha. Thanks for reviewing again!

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Now's the time for a review!

Thank you very mucho.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I love getting reviews. I've received so many reviews for the last chapter! You guys are superbly awesome!

Anyway, I haven't had many people commenting on my sketches… are they that bad? Hmm. If you never knew that I had some sketches of Mel on display, go to my profile right now. Hehe. Thanks for those that actually bothered to look and comment! You guys get my special… uh... gratitude!

Yeah, and I don't own One Piece.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter IX**

"NOOO!"

Cries of despair erupted along G-2, the navy's second division navy base on the Grand Line, as their top secret scout ship went up in flames before their very eyes. Not that anybody cared about the ship itself- they had plenty of them, but most of the documents that had been on it were literally irreplaceable.

Ace arrived on a big platform that looked suspiciously like the deck of a ship to see several marines practically hanging over the railing to stare at the flaming ball of misfortune. They seemed to be trying to hear the frantic cries of the small dots of marines floating in the surrounding water.

"I think they're trying to tell us something." one of them muttered as he squinted at a particular marine who was waving his arms wildly to get their attention.

"Yes, but I can't hear 'em!" another growled through clenched teeth. Ace approached to see what they were talking about, when-

"THE CAPTAIN'S STILL ON BOARD!" one of the marines in the water screamed at the top of his lungs, sounding very much hysterical. Everybody heard that alright. Ace smirked nonchalantly at the sight of everyone starting to panic before he jumped straight into the flames.

The marines' eyes visibly popped out as they gaped at the marine officer who had just plunged into certain doom.

* * *

Mel almost tripped over her own feet for the second time that day when she looked up to the sky to see a figure leaping straight towards the burning ship. 

"Oh, come _on_!" she cried, gesturing towards the result of her poor aim in defeat, "Just when I thought I hadn't killed anybody!" Apparently she was under the impression that the marine officer had just committed suicide or something.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mel steered straight towards the gates of the navy base to find Ace, now that she was sure that everyone was too busy watching her 'distraction'.

* * *

Within a few minutes, the marines once again displayed absolutely dumbstruck expressions at the sight of the marine officer returning with a large suitcase in his hand and the Top Secret Scout ship's captain slumped over his shoulder. 

The fact that he had survived and even rescued someone without so much as a scratch on his body would have been quite amazing by itself, but that was not the only odd thing the spectators were shocked about.

The officer just happened to still be on fire. Not to mention that he was also _smirking_ as though the flames on his shoulder were perfectly tolerable.

"Well then, I believe this is yours." he said, dumping the captain and the large suitcase unto the nearest marine, who just happened to be the commanding officer. Silence ensued for a few seconds with the crackling sound of the burning ship in the background.

Then the same marine who had recognized the man in the cafeteria suddenly bellowed, "What the-? It's _Fire Fist Ace_!"

* * *

The second this was said, Mel slammed open the doors to the 'main deck' of the navy base. Nobody noticed this however, even though a few marines were standing right next to her. They were all pointing their guns or drawing their swords at a figure on the other side of the deck. 

She didn't mind being ignored for once, since she was soon engrossed in watching several bullets shoot straight through Ace's body, only to leave flaming holes which didn't seem to hurt him at all.

He was running towards her while throwing off the marine officer's coat and cap. Mel had to grin when she recognized him as the figure that had jumped into the flaming ship earlier. So she hadn't killed anybody after all. Excellent.

"Oy, Ace, the letter!" she yelled at him, waving her hands and motioning him to go back to where he was coming from.

"Right." he said sheepishly before doing a few back flips and landing accurately on the commanding officer's balding head.

"Here you go. Almost forgot." Ace declared apologetically, scratching the back of his head and handing the marine officer Moda's envelope. The other marines were busy screaming their heads off at the pirate while some continued shooting their guns at him to no avail.

The commanding officer set down the unconscious captain to open the envelope he had just received. He didn't even notice the offending pirate jumping off deck with a blue haired woman in tow. Enclosed were two sheets of paper. One was a photo of a pretty little girl standing next to a small cow, while the other was a short note written over a map.

He had to laugh, despite the oddity of the situation, and immediately ordered a marine to take the letter to the catering staff.

* * *

"Well that was fun." commented Mel, a huge grin plastered across her face after she had finally calmed down from another laughing fit. They had passed the two idiotic marines that had been the core cause of this whole ordeal on the way to Ace's boat. They had apparently regained consciousness, but upon coming face-to-face with one of the most notorious pirates in the world, they promptly went _back to Lala-land_, as Mel put it. 

Ace grinned as well, leaning back onto the mast of his boat with his foot shooting flames through the turbine once more. Mel had found a more comfortable seat right behind Ace and on the other side of the mast where she was currently eyeing the stream of fire that the boat was leaving behind on the surface of the peaceful ocean.

"By the way," the pirate suddenly spoke up, tilting his hat, which Mel had returned earlier, and handing her a big, folded up sheet of paper, "I managed to get some more info on _Black Beard_."

"How about food?" Mel replied as she unfolded the paper.

"They did have some great food at the marine cafeteria…" Ace trailed off. Mel turned around to face the back of his head.

"I meant for _me_, my dear friend." she said rather threateningly.

"I _did_ manage to save you a loaf of bread." the pirate continued lazily before tossing it to her without really aiming. Fortunately for both of them, she managed to catch the bread easily before happily devouring it.

"-and an apple." added Ace when she was done with the bread. Mel thanked him and took the fruit before concentrating on the item he had handed her earlier.

"So what is this supposed to be?" she asked, eyeing the paper, which happened to be a large map with several red circles, while wiping the apple on her sleeve.

"Places where _Black Beard _was seen, villages he plundered, navy ships he sunk..." Ace answered casually. Mel bit into her apple thoughtfully as she traced the marks on the map with her eyes.

"He's been pretty busy, hasn't he?" she remarked when the count of red circles reached to somewhere around fifteen.

"Tell me something I don't know." he muttered, smirking once more and knowing that she was probably about to do so. Maybe she was just too predictable for him, but that was exactly what she did.

"Mkay." Mel hesitated for a bit, a smile playing on her lips as she thought about what she could tell her companion. "There's a navy fleet right behind us." she concluded happily. Ace froze.

"You're kidding." he replied dully, not even wanting to turn around.

"Actually, yes, I was. How did you know?" Mel laughed as a slightly frustrated growl escaped from the pirate's lips. "Alright, I'll be serious now." Another pause. She couldn't seem to think of anything surprising that Ace didn't know already. Then she clapped her hands as a light bulb turned on in her head.

"I have some lethal poisons in my bag." she stated cheerfully. Ace blinked. Once again, he found himself speechless at Mel's randomness. But luckily for him, they had already arrived at the next island.

* * *

They once again separated as soon as the boat had come to a stop. Little did the two know that this island was stuffed full with marines and government-related people. The only reason Ace's boat hadn't been noticed yet was that they had managed to land on a fairly isolated part of the island. 

It was almost as if they were testing their luck of finding each other again whenever they parted. They undoubtedly found it rather amusing whenever they managed to bump into each other again without actually intending to do so. Phrases such as "You _again_?", "My, you look sort of familiar, don't I know you?" and "How convenient. Let's go!" had become standard greetings for every reunion, often accompanied by comical expressions or dramatic articulations.

Today Mel was sitting alone in a comfortable little tea shop she had come across after getting a proper lunch. Her bag placed on a stool next to her, she smiled politely as the waiter set down the tea she had ordered. Sipping the hot drink contently, she pulled a nearby newspaper toward her and nearly spat out a mouthful of tea upon reading the headlines.

'Mysterious Woman Sets Navy's Top Secret Scout Ship on Fire' it said, along with a huge picture of a flaming ship and an enlarged picture of a blue haired woman- the same picture that was currently on many _Wanted_ posters.

"They certainly print their newspapers quickly." Mel covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stifle a laugh. She couldn't help chuckling as she skimmed through the article that described a ruthless criminal act performed by some deranged maniac. Typical for them to never mention Ace saving the day.

Completely engrossed in the exaggerated account, she didn't notice the sudden silence and an odd presence of white smoke engulfing the shop. Only when a shadow fell over her reading did she look up to find a rather large figure towering over her.

Her mouth fell open as she stared at Marine Captain Smoker puffing on his cigars, with his ever present scowl directed straight at her face.

"Uh… You didn't come in here to get tea by any chance, did you?" she said, the corners of her mouth twitching into an awkward smile.

* * *

Ace yawned as he trotted through the streets. He hadn't caught a glimpse of Mel throughout the past few hours, which was somewhat unnerving. They would usually be setting off to the next island by now, as this one had yet again proven to be devoid of anyone who called himself _Black Beard_. 

That is how he came across a small tea shop, where he just happened to step in to find a very familiar-looking bag sitting on one of the stools. Upon closer inspection, he concluded that this was indeed his friend's possession.

"Excuse me," he talked to the nearest waiter, "do you happen to know what happened to the owner of this bag?" The waiter looked at him for a good ten seconds before replying in a rather snotty tone:

"Ah yes, the miss was dragged out of the shop quite a while ago." Ace stared at him, but the waiter hadn't finished yet: "It's good that she paid in advance."

"_Who_ dragged her out of the shop?" the pirate questioned calmly, not wanting to cause a scene.

"I can't see why that is any of your business-" the man sneered, but quickly continued when the pirate's fist suddenly burst into flames, "but it was a large, white-haired man who had a strange cloud of smoke billowing around him."

Ace almost laughed at the waiter's accurate description, but instead only thanked the man, grabbed Mel's abandoned item and stormed out of the shop and into the crowded streets.

* * *

Mel was, to say the least, surprised when she was suddenly led out of the shop, along some narrow alleys, and into a huge, important looking building that had several sharp-looking guards positioned along its gates. 

The stranger thing was that she could have escaped any second- she hadn't even been chained up. It was just that she was so taken aback by the whole thing that she had completely forgotten about everything else.

Smoker wasn't even holding onto her anymore as they entered an impressive, high-ceiling hallway. Mel followed, slightly dazed and very curious as to why she was being brought here so… freely. But she couldn't bear the lack of conversation any longer.

"So, where are we?" she asked offhandedly, examining the back of the marine captain for some kind of reaction. He, however, took the liberty of completely ignoring her. Mel sighed inwardly, almost bumping into Smoker when he suddenly stopped in front of a pair of large ornate doors.

He opened them to reveal a circular room with a desk placed at the far end, behind which an intimidating old man was seated. And he was in fact, very old- one of the oldest still in the business, so to say.

Mel blinked quizzically at the man, thinking something along the lines of: "The old 'respect-your-elders' method, eh? I don't even respect my own grandfather…" She shook her head in pity for these poor souls.

"Who's this, Smoker?" croaked the old man, eyeing the young woman curiously. Smoker waited for Mel to enter the room completely before closing the doors and turning to face the senior governmental officer.

"Sir," the younger marine captain replied through gritted teeth- he obviously did not like this man very much- "she's the most recent addition to our _wanted_ list."

It was now Mel's turn to eye the old man curiously. She frowned when an unpleasant smirk spread across the man's face.

"Hmm… Yes. Interesting." he drawled as he studied the woman from head to toe, much to her displeasure. She stole a glimpse at Smoker, who seemed to be grimly scrutinizing the elder man's actions. What in the world was going on?

"Well then, tell me your name." the old man ordered. Mel just stared at him with her unnervingly blue eyes.

"I don't think I want to." she said simply, blinking at him nonchalantly. An eyebrow shot up from its original position on the officer's face as he sneered at her disrespect.

Smoker almost smirked at the look on the old man's face. He had expected the girl to be stubborn, but this had been a most unexpected show of willpower. Her face showed no sign of emotion, or at least, no sign of fear whatsoever. If anything, she seemed to be a bit amused at the old officer's antics. How strange.

Irritated at this young woman's surprising attitude, the governmental officer decided to ignore her rudeness as much as possible. He was not about to show her just how confused he was.

"We'll leave that detail for later then…" he muttered, "I see that you have been part of quite a few crimes-" He shuffled through a pile of paperwork until he seemed to find what he was looking for- a report on this blue-haired, unnamed woman.

"What _are _you talking about?" Mel replied flatly, crossing her arms thoughtfully.

The old man would not be unnerved by her pretense of innocence. He knew that most people could not keep up this façade for long.

"First off, it is said that you are accompanying the notorious pirate _Fire Fist Ace_. That alone is already a great offense to your record." he jeered as he studied her expression for the least bit of change. None came.

"A perfectly respectable person like me, traveling with a _pirate_? How _dare_ you suggest such a thing." Mel answered in a dismissive tone, along with a most dignified glance directed at the offending officer. This was the last thing Smoker had expected her to do. Not only was she distinctively lying, but her face did not even show the slightest evidence of it being a deceit.

But then he repeated her words in his head and found that she had not actually _lied_. She hadn't flat-out denied the fact that she was traveling with Ace- only given a very strong impression that it was not so. Ah, clever.

Oddly enough, Mel found that the old man had fallen for her trick rather easily. It was obviously way past his time to retire. He just cleared his throat nervously before continuing his inquiry.

"Your abilities- what are they, exactly?"

"A secret." Mel stifled a yawn- this was getting a bit dull. She had let her guard down for a second, and before she knew what was happening, she was engulfed by a cloud of white smoke.

Smoker narrowed his eyes as he willed the smoke to take hold of the young woman. Nothing happened. "So it _is _true…" he muttered, puffing through his cigars thoughtfully. Mel coughed slightly, relieved to see the smoke quickly fading away. Smoke, as opposed to fire, she figured, was harmless outside of its Devil Fruit powers, and so it couldn't really do anything to her besides causing irritation.

"Devil Fruit powers have no effect on you whatsoever, then?" the old man summed up unnecessarily. The young woman shrugged in defeat.

"I guess you could say that…" she said, having no desire of going into specifics. Why was she here again?

"Do you realize that this could potentially endanger not only your own safety but that of the World Government as well?" the officer spoke with an air of wisdom that did not quite impress the two others in the room.

Mel did not reply. Yes, she had contemplated this before- considering the fact that many of the Government's most powerful minions were wielders of Devil Fruit abilities, she would pose to be a possibly great threat to them. Which was why she had tried to keep her ability to nullify such powers a secret. Oh well, they would have found out about her in the end anyway.

"Of course," the old man continued, clearly pleased by the young woman's thoughtful expression, "You could, in turn, be a great ally to us."

Now she saw where this was going. The government had apparently thought that they could bribe, or even threaten, her into working for them. Not a bad idea, since many pirates- official enemies to the 'doers of Justice'- were also subject to her own powers.

"What do you propose?" Mel inquired, gazing steadily at the man behind the desk. He smirked; this was going exactly the way he wanted it to.

"Join us," the elderly man drawled, "the navy, preferably. You would be one of the top-ranking officers out there with, of course, better than decent wages."

Ah, there was the bribe. How could anyone resist a high position with a steady income?

Smoker, who had been leaning against a wall all this time, inspected the woman's expression carefully. Somehow, he did not like the idea of her accepting such obvious bribery. He almost let out a sigh when a satisfied smile spread across Mel's lips. Almost.

"In that case," the blue-haired woman started, walking up to the old man's desk and placing her hands on the edge of it. The officer's face showed his apparent contentment, he was just praising himself for another excellent victory, when-

"… I'd rather be a pirate."

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments: **W00t! That was fun. Let's do it again! (runs off to write the next chapter) 

I had this chapter all planned out a long time ago, and I just wrote it yesterday. One of the lines that Mel says is totally stolen from Mary Poppins (yes I love that movie). I couldn't help it. I just had to.

Let me clarify one little detail that some of you may not have understood very well. The reason as to why Ace's fire affects Mel (since her hair had caught fire once) and Smoker's smoke doesn't is that fire in itself (in reality) really does do some damage- whereas real smoke, when the Devil Fruit powers are nullified, is completely harmless. So the only way Mel could be unaffected by _Ace's_ ability would be to come into contact with him- since in reality, the fire erupting on Ace's body would be considered 'fake'. Does that make sense? I hope it does...

You guys are so totally awesome. I can't believe that it's been, what, a month since I updated, and I'm STILL getting reviews! Oh the joy!

**My greatest gratitude to:**

**EternallyJinxed** : Thanks for reading it several times… wow, there are a lot more of you re-readers than I suspected… I know exactly what you mean about the romance thing! I always say that quickly spawning love (if it can be called that at all) dies just as quickly. Which is why this story is getting longer and longer … and I'm not even close to the end yet! You're the first one to suggest something for a ..uh.. drawing idea, and GUESS WHAT! That's exactly what I drew: Mel in a kimono, looking naughty. _EVERYONE GO LOOK AT IT RIGHT NOW!_ I'm sorry that I didn't draw a background. I didn't want to spoil it. Hehe. Thanks for visiting my dA page!

**guest** : Thanks for reviewing!

**firefistACE888888**: Yes, I took my time. Almost a month. But I was just so busy and I've had a very annoying cold for the past few weeks… can you believe that I wrote this entire thing yesterday? I guess it takes longer to plan it out than to write it. Thanks for the review!

**ace-lover 3 **: Sorry about the whole past-still-not-being-revealed thing. I'll take my time on that, mostly because … Mel doesn't have much of an exciting past (which is what I like about her- I'm trying to make her as non-Mary Sue as possible). Yeah, and another cute peck scene (?) just didn't fit into this chapter. I apologize. Thanks for the review!

**fluffywhitekitsune** : Another one of my dA commenters! Thanks for actually looking at my drawings! I'm glad you enjoyed it (and thanks for putting out ace-lover's hair… I'll just go call the ambulance now). Until next chapter!

**TrunksgirlBlaze27** : Hmm.. I've never been to a concert … I think (omg what a loser!) (No I'm not! (shifty eyes)) Aaanyway… thank you so much for your ever faithful (?) reviews and countless comments on my dA page. I am so grateful! As you know I have a week off so you might even have a chance of getting another chapter within the week... but we'll see. How did you like the ending of this chapter? I planned that line even before I started on chapter 1 ! I finally got to it! Yay.

**madlibs44** : Aww, thank you! That was so sweet. I'm sure that you'll get reviews by and by- I'll go read your fanfic as soon as I can!

**lil1diva**: Oh my.. they do, don't they? Yeah, maybe I should mention that sometime. And have them laughing their heads off at whoever tells them that. Thanks for another review!

**firefistACE888888** : Wait a second, didn't you review already? Haha. It'd be really cool to have a friend to read fanfics with! You two are so lucky (none of my friends are interested in such things………(SOB)) Thank you for reading this thing over and over again… if you catch any mistakes, please tell me! I'll tell you now that Mel is not related to White-Beard in any way (unless I'm mistaken) because, again, she is just an ordinary girl. Mwahahaha.

**Artemis die Jaegerin**: Hmm, ja, ich versuche jedes Kapitel besser zu schreiben. Sonst würde es ja niemand mehr lesen. Hehe. Mehr Romantik? Kommt sofort (glaub ich mal)!

**Noir** : Here's another little chatting scene between the two. Those things are never planned out- I just write 'em as I go. Thanks for the review!

**firefistACE888888**: Whoa, third review! Does that mean you read the last chapter three times or something? Go look at my profile for my drawing of Mel in a kimono- I think it turned out really well. Yeah, as soon as I got this review I tried drawing her expression (I've tried before and failed every time) but, again, I failed. It's just too… I dunno, beyond description and visual representation? I apologize. I'm not that great of an artist (cough).

**Fiery-Wolf-Angel** : Yup yup. How did you survive without the internet? Well I guess you could always be too busy to notice. I was, for the past few weeks. But now I'm freeeeeee… for a week! YES. Thanks for the great review, and please go look at my drawings of Mel- I think the one I drew recently really shows her personality. Until next chapter!

**laura** : I just got your review today, it was so unexpected! Is this soon enough for you? Hehe. Thanks for reviewing.

* * *

A round of applause for those that bothered to review! I love you people! Thank you for waiting so patiently for the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Don't forget to review! Again!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Reviews make my day. I don't own anything from One Piece. I own Mel… and anything she owns. Hmm, does that mean I have access to dangerous chemicals? Never mind.

Wow. We're already on chapter ten.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter X**

_Twitch_

Oh yes, the look on the man's face was priceless. Mel even thought about just leaving him there in his misery by jumping triumphantly out the nearest window, never to be seen again. Although this idea was vaguely tempting, she, of course, being a perfectly respectable person, merely continued her little speech with a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.

"Which, of course, would only be the case if I were limited to those two choices." She turned to face both men. Smoker was still puffing silently on his cigars, gazing at her steadily and arching an eyebrow, signaling for her to continue. The older officer just gaped at the young woman, looking absolutely dumbstruck. Mel started pacing around the circular room casually until she reached a window and took a seat on the windowsill.

"If your sole purpose of bringing me here was to ensure that I do not become a pirate, you have wasted everyone's time." the young woman stated, dangling her legs thoughtfully. "Including mine." she added as an afterthought.

Smoker arched another eyebrow, forgetting to puff on his cigars for once. One second there, he had thought that she was hinting towards joining the navy, but now? He couldn't believe the nerve of this girl- what was she getting at?

"You must remember, gentlemen," Mel went on confidently, resisting the urge to groan in exasperation at their ignorance, "that the world does not merely consist of government officials and pirates." Of course, neither of the two men had any idea of what she was trying to tell them. Typical.

* * *

Why in the world were there so many- "Marines?" Ace muttered, observing a strange scene from his spot on a chimney. He had been looking for Mel for the past fifteen minutes and she still hadn't shown up. Not even a hint of blue hair. This was getting weird. The sight of a troop of marines did nothing to ease the pirate's daunting gut feeling. 

He could have just left, of course- it was never particularly relaxing for a pirate to stroll around a city packed with marines. On the contrary, Ace thought, it was actually rather entertaining.

A smirk appeared on the young man's freckled face as he gazed at the large courtyard of the biggest building on the island. An army of about thirty marines stood in a square formation, seemingly guarding the place.

"There you are." he said, staring at the huge walls of the governmental structure as his smirk widened into a grin.

* * *

Mel let out a small sigh. "Alright then, I'll make it plain for you: I'm _not_, and _don't intend to be_, a pirate!" She declared, throwing up her hands in mock defeat and standing up from her seat while glaring at them emphatically. 

"Why not join the navy, then?" inquired the old man, having finally snapped out of the initial shock over this young woman's bold statements. Mel eyed him warily as though she was facing a stubborn three year old child who refused to understand her reasoning. It took most of her self-restraint not to blurt out exactly what her opinion of the navy was – because her wording might have proven to be a bit rude.

"Let's just say that I don't agree with some of your… eh… _views_." she replied instead, observing their reactions. "No offense." she added after a while. Smoker seemed to be deep in thought while the old man, still seated behind his desk, appeared to be pretty much speechless again. 'Time to escape from the clutches of boredom,' the young woman thought.

Mel turned around and forced open the glass window, looking down only to find out that she was inside a tower. She blinked. She didn't recall walking up any staircases. Nevertheless, they seemed to be in a room at least eight floors from the ground. Great. And where in the world was her bag? "Looks like I won't be leaving _this_ way…" she mumbled glumly. Fortunately, nobody noticed her little dilemma.

"Soo…" she started resignedly while taking noticeably large strides towards the only other exit- the huge ornate doors. The two officers were still too busy with their own thoughts to notice her suspicious behavior. Mel raised an eyebrow at this. They were definitely underestimating her now.

"Basically, if you don't bother me, I won't be mean to you." She said pointedly, smirking with her back against the doors. "The name's _Diedrick T. Mel_, by the way. Buhbye now!"

And with that, she promptly pushed opened the doors and slipped into the hallway. No one made a move to stop her. The old governmental officer only picked up a snail-like thing from his desk, calmer than he had been for the past fifteen minutes.

"Get ready. Capture her at all costs!" he spoke into it. Smoker raised an eyebrow at the older man after eyeing the partially open doors with a frown.

"The girl made her intentions pretty clear. I'm sure she won't cause too much trouble." he pointed out before halfheartedly adding, "…_sir_."

Mel had struck the marine captain as someone who wouldn't 'attack' unless forced to do so. She was probably not going to step out of order as long as she wasn't provoked. Plus, she wasn't, and didn't intend to be, a pirate.

"_Captain_ Smoker," the older man sneered testily, "you do _not_ question the authority of the government, is that clear?"

If anyone else had been in the room at this time, they would have experienced a more or less rare moment of hatred between the two officers. It was rare because the two hardly ever saw each other in the first place. The tension was almost visible. Then, finally, after an indignant puff on his cigars, Smoker gave a curt nod and left the room without another word.

* * *

"Hmm… strange." Mel mumbled as she hurried down the empty corridor towards freedom. She somehow found time during her hasty escape to notice the red-golden carpet spread along the hallway and wrinkle her nose in dislike at what she thought was a poor taste of ...well, carpeting. 

She had expected Smoker to follow or at least send a cloud of white smoke after her when she had left the circular room so deliberately - without closing the door, even. Then again, she wasn't about to complain- it seemed as though the governmental officials had actually agreed with her reasoning.

At least, that was what she thought until she stepped out into the late afternoon sun to face an army of marines blocking her way.

* * *

Ace had been about to barge into the building after waiting for his friend for another couple of minutes when someone suddenly burst out from behind the entrance doors and skid into a halt at the sight of the assembled marines. He grinned. 

"Well _finally_."

* * *

"Oh. This makes more sense." Mel concluded as dozens of stares suddenly fell on her. She blinked back at them nonchalantly when an important-looking marine stepped out from the formation and addressed her with a rather haughty tone of voice. 

"Miss, you are hereby under arrest for disloyalty to the World Government!" he barked, squinting at the young woman through steely eyes. Mel, who had been momentarily distracted by the pretty colors of the early evening sky, only directed her attention toward the man in front of her when he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry- _what_?" she inquired objectively, scratching the back of her head somewhat apologetically and giving the marine an innocently confused look.

"_You_ are under arrest!" the marine repeated more clearly this time, somewhat perturbed by this woman's lack of concern.

Mel crossed her arms and looked up at the clear sky once more, "Oh-kaay… but _why_?" she asked slowly. She was getting a bit tired- after all, it had been quite an eventful day, and this conversation did not seem to make any sense at all. The man in uniform seemed to be a bit annoyed at her attitude, and so he quickly pulled out some kind of scroll and addressed her once more with a renewed tone of importance.

"You are guilty of deliberately accompanying a criminal to-"

"A what?" the blue-haired woman interrupted, sounding a bit offended and earning herself a glare for her rudeness.

"A _pirate_." the marine answered rather rigidly. Mel blinked.

"Oh! You mean _that_ guy?" she exclaimed optimistically, having finally understood what the man was going on about, and pointing emphatically at someone in the distance. Everyone turned around simultaneously to goggle at a grinning _Fire fist_ Ace, who had just approached them.

"Yo."

* * *

Smoker stomped down the long winding hallway, the ever present veil of smoke trailing behind him as though his mood was causing him to literally fume with anger. Having someone commanding him around never did much good to his health, which was probably why he had become a marine _captain_ in the first place. Orders that made sense wouldn't, of course, bother him much, but this really was a bit stupid. 

Why they would so desperately want a little woman on their side in the first place was beyond him. She didn't appear to pose a threat to any side at the moment, as she didn't even seem carry around a _weapon_ of any sort. Sure, he couldn't use his smoke abilities on her, but he was probably a lot stronger than her without them anyhow, judging by the way he was able to drag her all the way here without so much as a struggle.

This was what he thought until he too stepped out into the evening light and spied a rather disturbing sight. The blue haired woman was hugging some sort of duffel bag happily while-

"_Fire fist Ace_." Smoker growled, watching as the young pirate seemed to be engaged in battle against the marine troops that had been stationed there. Then again, he didn't really do anything besides knocking down anyone who got too close and frying up every bullet that came their way. And through all of this, he was chatting animatedly with the girl, who seemed to have no problem whatsoever with being within shooting range of the marines.

* * *

"Oh look, it's Smoker." Mel was saying, grinning at the marine captain who had just shown up and poking the young pirate to get his attention directed towards the newcomer. 

"Ah. We meet again." Ace proclaimed dramatically as Smoker stepped down the short staircase while ordering his lackeys to stop wasting their bullets.

"And why are _you_ here, pirate?" the marine captain inquired, shifting his gaze between his archenemy and Mel who was yawning in the background.

"To pick her up." the pirate replied simply, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the young woman. Smoker sent a glare towards the blue haired girl who returned it directly with a sheepish grin.

"She's a _civilian_." Captain Smoker was getting impatient, the way he always did when trying to talk to pirates. It wasn't as if he didn't know that the two individuals in front of him had been traveling together, just that he had no idea as to why they would do such a thing. Why would any decent female want to journey alone with a pirate in the first place?

"I'm actually his long-lost half sister who had been captured by the three legged goat-whale at the age of three." Mel put in seriously, receiving very strange looks from everyone as a result until she admitted grumpily, "Just kidding, sheesh." The marine captain ignored the awkward silence that followed and broke in,

"She's not going to become a pirate."

"I realize that. What makes you think I expect her to become one?" Ace answered nonchalantly, playing with a flame in his hand.

"I'm right here, you know." Mel pointed out without making any further moves to get their attention directed towards her. Instead, she yawned again.

"What are you going to gain from traveling with her, then?" Smoker continued along with his trademark scowl, challenging the young pirate to come up with a decent answer.

"Company." Ace replied with a grin and a casual shrug. The blue haired woman grinned at her friend's answer, gazing steadily at the marine captain as if to dare him to forbid her from traveling with this man. Now that she thought about it, Smoker somehow reminded her of her grandfather. Maybe it was the scowl.

"Captain! We were ordered to arrest them- NOW!" the marine who had addressed Mel earlier stepped up. How he had the guts to yell at the marine captain was beyond anyone's comprehension.

"Yeah! What are we doing standing around like this anyhow? It's already getting dark!" Mel exclaimed loudly, saving the marine from immediate doom and tugging Ace's backpack. "I suggest less talking and more running away."

"I don't think so." growled Smoker through clenched teeth, pushing the rather rude marine official out of his way to stand before the two miscreants.

"That's too bad." was all the young pirate said before seizing his friend by the wrist and taking off into the darkening streets and out of sight. The marine captain cursed under his breath before barking at the somewhat stupefied marines to follow them. He himself used his Devil Fruit abilities to fly after them on a cloud of smoke.

* * *

"So why did they take you there in the first place?" asked Ace as the two ran through streets, turned corners, and jumped over all kinds of stray animals. 

"Job interview." Mel huffed, having narrowly avoided contact with a random barrel that had decided to sit in her way.

"Oh? Did they accept you?" her companion continued with a smirk as he pulled her away from crashing into a tree just in time.

"Nah, apparently my record isn't very impressive." she replied mildly, slightly amazed at her own ability of keeping up with Ace's remarkable speed. The fact that he was practically pulling her along probably helped.

"Maybe next time, eh?" Ace grinned at the young woman who shot him a dramatically outraged look.

"No _thank you_." Mel stated before taking a peek behind her shoulder and locating a white cloud speeding towards them. This wouldn't have been much of a problem if it hadn't contained a few very large objects. "Man, he's SMART!"

And with a prominent**_ crash_**, a wooden cart smashed into the ground, missing the two by inches.

"Is he trying to _hurt_ us or something?" the blue haired woman inquired incredulously as a few more objects flew over their heads.

"You know, I think he _is_." answered the young pirate in an equally mock-outraged tone, just as a barrel that had hurtled out from the smoke exploded into flames.

Mel shook her head, "Tsk. How rude. _OW!_" she exclaimed when a stray wooden plank hit her on the head. She skidded to a halt to shake a fist at the cloud of smoke while furiously rubbing the sore spot on her scalp, "That HURT, you know! Eep!"

Seeing that she was now totally distracted from their supposed escape, Ace had dodged another airborne object and scooped the irritated girl off her feet. Several explosions later, they were gone.

* * *

Smoker glared at the burning remains of his futile attacks strewn across the otherwise empty street. He looked up at the quickly darkening sky and drew a deep breath through his cigars. 

"Sir! They got away?" one of the faster marines ran up to the captain to ask him an unnecessary question.

"They'll be gone from this island before everyone else gets here." Smoker declared, ignoring the fact that everyone else was already at the other end of the street.

* * *

"Wow. I can't believe he just gave up like that." Mel muttered from their spot on a rooftop as she watched the army of marines disperse. It really was a bit odd that Smoker hadn't noticed the fact that Ace had simply jumped onto a nearby roof and stepped behind a chimney, out of sight. 

"Maybe he just wanted to hit you over the head and be done with it." the pirate replied thoughtfully, earning himself an indignant look from his friend. He grinned sheepishly and offered her a hand. Mel accepted it with a smirk before they jumped off the other side of the house, away from the marines.

"Dang!" she suddenly hissed, snapping her fingers as if she had forgotten something crucial.

"What?"

"I didn't get to finish my tea."

Ace chuckled at her complaints as they strolled through more empty streets, heading towards the uninhabited side of the island.

"Do you even know which way we have to go?" Mel asked after a while of comfortable silence, eyeing the early moon suspiciously.

"Nope." the young man answered simply.

"Oh." the blue haired woman said, shifting her gaze to her hand that was still being held by her companion. "And why are you still holding my hand?" she inquired casually, without any attempt of preventing him from continuing to do so.

"Because it's still cold." Ace replied with a wink. Mel blinked, mentally ordering herself not to blush.

"Good answer." she mumbled, trying to sound as neutral as possible and actually succeeding in doing so. They continued on through the strangely empty evening until a figure stepped out of the shadows and blocked their path.

"And where do you think _you're_ going, young lady?" a feminine voice said. Ace noticed Mel's body tense beside him. She let go of his hand and approached the figure apprehensively. That voice seemed strangely familiar.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you forgot about me already?" A slender woman crossed her arms as a cloud moved away from the moon and let its light shine on the scene. Mel gawked at the black haired woman.

"_...Auntie Em_?"

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments:** And what better way to end the chapter than with the introduction of a new character? Some of you may know her name already. This is Auntie Em, a character from Mel's past. Her identity shall be revealed in Chapter eleven. 

Yes, it's _Diedrick T. Mel_. Some of you may have overlooked that part, but this is where I thought it'd be appropriate to reveal her name. Diedrick is her surname (hey, it sounds cool), and T. would be the initial for her middle name. _Mel_ also happens to be the shortened version of .. a longer name, but that's not really important right now.

Whoooooo… I really struggled with this chapter. For some reason, it just wouldn't ... be written! Whatever that means. By the way, if this happens again in the future, I will make the chapters shorter and .. more frequent. If you know what I mean.

I don't know where that last fluff scene came from. Honestly.

**Thank you SO much for the reviews! They're all dearly appreciated. **

**EternallyJinxed**Hehe. Some more Smoker action in this one! It's like Mel has to get permission from him to travel with Ace or something… I guess it really IS because Mel's granpa is so much like Smoker. Yup. Thanks for always reviewing and commenting on dA! You're the best.

**Why.Is.The.Sun.Blue:**Umm… the sun is blue? Right. Anyway, thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you like it. Please continue reading and supporting- that would be really nice of you.

**TrunksgirlBlaze27:**Were your expectations right? Did you think she'd become a pirate now? Come to think of it, I still haven't mentioned what she DOES want to be… oh well, next chapter. It wasn't really soon, but I did update! That counts for something, right? Hehe, thanks for all the support.

**ace-lover 3: **Haha. I don't wanna get into any trouble for keeping you from school. (shifty eyes) You'll see what happens in the end- the only way to find out is to continue reading! Thanks for the review!

**firefistACE888888: **Hehehe. Only one reply for you this time! I need to post this up. Thanks for the .. uh.. FOUR reviews! Awesomeness. You have freaky dreams…Mel does not possess any sharp weapons…yet. I have no idea how long this thing is going to get… I thought it would only take thirteen, but now I have NO idea. Thanks for looking at my drawings, and thanks for the continuing support!

**fluffywhitekitsune**: Oh wow. You certainly read this thing a lot. Thanks to people like you, this story has apparently been viewed around 4,000 times! Ain't that kinda freaky?  
I would totally LOVE it if you would draw Mel! That would make me SO HAPPY!!! (does a little dance) Yup. Now you know how to make me happy. Thanks for the review!

**madlibs44**: Lemon ice? WHERE?! I want some. I agree, randomness rocks. Thanks for the review!

**God'sAngel:**Hmm…that's an idea! (rubs hands together) Mwahahahahaha. I love it when someone suggests stuff, and who knows? Maybe I'll use that idea. Thanks so much! Is this crazy enough for you? Well, my whole idea of Mel was making her as normal as possible- aside from her very strange personality (which even I can't understand sometimes). So I guess she won't be doing a lot of drastic stuff for now. If you want to read some really good wackiness, go look at EternallyJinxed's fanfic. It's awesome.

**lil1diva**: Oh yeah, she should. She'll do that later. Hehe. (starts singing) Just a spoonful of Sugar helps the medicine go down! Thanks for the review!

**Fiery-Wolf-Angel**: Exactly. I think it's because we're all so artsy! Bwahahaha. Sorry for taking so long. I think I'll shorten my chapters or something.. It took such a long time to finish this one! Thanks for the comments on dA and the review here!

**Unknow Fan: **Yay! New reviewer! I agree. There are too many slash fics in this place (shifty eyes). Thank you so much! Hearing such things just makes my day so wonderful. I hope you read the whole thing by now. Thanks for the review.

**Smartass4684**: I'm glad you decided to review! Don't you just hate those 300-word-omg-I'm-madly-in-love-with-you fics? This story is getting longer and longer because of the slowly growing relationship. Meheheheheheh. I love it that way. Thanks for the review! I hope you liked this chapter.

* * *

Again, thanks everyone. I wouldn't be able to continue this without you. 

Next chapter will include a bunch of Mel's past. ( I think )

Please review.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own One Piece in any way.

Could you guys do me a favor? When you review this time, could you include a line/scene/description/etc. that you liked the most? I'd really like to see what kind of humor or style of writing you like the most. Thank you.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XI**

"_Who_?"

Ace was, to say the least, a bit surprised at the sudden appearance of this woman- whoever she was. Mel seemed to know her pretty well, judging by the way she suddenly let out an amused snort and crossed her arms with a serene smile placed on her lips.

"What gives? Did you join the navy or something?" she asked pointedly, eyeing the other woman's choice of clothing with a raised eyebrow. Said woman was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and a slim pair of jeans, but draped over her shoulders was an unmistakable marine uniform coat.

Unlike Mel, who was actually a bit pale, this woman displayed a darker complexion- probably the result of working in the sun for too many hours. Her short cropped black hair was held in place by a red bandana, the pattern of which looked suspiciously like small skulls. This was all Ace could observe about her in the dim moonlight.

"I'm under a contract." the older woman explained along with a small shrug. She looked and sounded to be in her late twenties, with her low, calm voice creating a somewhat comfortable scene. In any case, Ace wasn't worried. Not that he ever was.

"_Again?_ What'd you do this time?" Mel continued exasperatedly, addressing the woman who gave the impression of a pirate in disguise. Or something like that.

"Got caught buying some illegal raw materials- they said they'd make that area of the market legal for certain people if I worked for 'em every now and then." the black haired woman replied with a huff, opening a door to her right which happened to be the house she had stepped out of to meet them and gesturing for them to enter.

The two didn't hesitate to follow. The mysterious woman closed and locked door after they entered.

"Go Figure." Mel commented as she took a seat on a nearby table in the small and simple but cozy looking room.

"Now I can legally annoy them." the woman declared with a lopsided grin.

"Who are you, exactly?" Ace put in, gazing curiously at the so-called Auntie Em who smirked apologetically.

"Ah yes, you wouldn't know me." she stated unnecessarily, taking off her coat and hanging it on a nearby rack before actually answering the young pirate's question, "Robertson Emily. I'm a blacksmith."

"To say the least." Mel added under her breath, though the two others picked it up anyhow. Ace blinked thoughtfully. The name seemed to ring a bell in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite recall-

"Robertson Henry's daughter." Mel specified upon noticing the quizzical look on the pirate's face.

Ace blinked some more, "No. _The _Robertson Henry?"

"How many Robertson Henrys are there, you think?" The young pirate opened his mouth to voice exactly what his opinion on the matter was, before Mel quickly continued, "Never mind. Don't answer that."

* * *

_The_ Robertson Henry was, in fact, a very famous pirate blacksmith. He was the one responsible for the existence of the most famous and deadly weapons of the Blue Seas. The Black Blade of _Hawk Eyes_ Mihawk was only one of many examples of Robertson's work. 

The reason as to why Robertson Henry was nicknamed the _pirate_ blacksmith was that he refused to work for the navy. Rumor had it that this was because they had once ticked him off by attempting to arrest a dear friend of his… or something like that. Nobody was quite sure of why the notorious blacksmith had suddenly disappeared from the scene a couple of years ago.

"I never knew he had a daughter." Ace said after a while of remembering all these details about the old man.

"Well, now you do." Emily replied simply, "I'm not as famous yet."

"From what I've heard the last couple of months, you're getting pretty close, Auntie." muttered Mel a bit sleepily, yawning once more.

"_Auntie_?" the pirate repeated inquisitively, "You're related?" The two women stared at him as if to say something along the lines of 'How in the world would that make sense?' before the oldest of the three smirked and explained,

"No. I only took care of her for nearly seven years. Wow, was it seven? You were such a cute little girl back then…" she turned to face the young, blue haired woman who smiled at her drowsily, "but then you grew up."

"_Heeey._" Mel whined at the implied insult, getting up and sitting down on a chair instead to rest her head on the table.

"Just kidding, sweetie. So how about you? What have you been doing for the past, oh I don't know, _two YEARS_?" Emily said, taking a seat across from her 'niece' and sounding a bit upset at the girl's lack of conversation.

* * *

The old man gritted his teeth in anger before slamming his fist onto the desk. 

"How could you let her escape? Just like _THAT?_" he growled, eyeing the marines in front of him with the utmost contempt. They seemed too scared to reply, though it was probably meant as a rhetorical question anyway. The governmental officer shook his head before throwing open a black binder and flipping through its pages in frustration.

Suddenly he froze as his eyes fell on a certain picture accompanied by a rather long report. "Diedrick…" he muttered, briefly skimming through the paragraphs until his lips formed into a thin line. The marines in the room twitched subconsciously upon discovering the senior officer's change of expression. It was never a particularly good sign.

"I knew her rudeness reminded me of _somebody_." the man muttered after a while, closing the binder resolutely and glaring at the marines in front of his desk.

"Send out a new _wanted_ poster for that woman. Change the name to Diedrick T. Mel and add that her possessions are just as valuable." he drawled after a minute of staring at them for goodness-knows what reason.

"Yes, sir!" they practically shouted before scuttling out the room like a group of scared mice.

* * *

Ace perked up at the older woman's mention of Mel's past. The girl had never really told him much about her last two years of travel, but then again, he hadn't told her much about himself either. Maybe next time. 

"You know, the usual: going places, finding rare stuff, earning money, having fun…" Mel trailed off, "But now I have to go find grandpa's book and get rid of it." she concluded with snort. "Sheesh."

"Who stole it _this_ time?" Emily asked exasperatedly, raising an eyebrow at the younger woman.

"It's been stolen before?" Ace put in, sitting down in a chair next to his friend.

"Yes, even the navy has tried to 'confiscate' it a few times before." the black haired woman explained before turning to face the younger woman with a grin, "Remember that one time they tried to ambush your house?"

"Must've been one of the _best _days of my _life_." Mel answered with the most wicked grin that Ace had ever seen on a woman.

"Do I even want to know?" the pirate questioned hesitantly as Auntie Em burst into a fit of laughter.

"If you value your sanity, you probably wouldn't." his friend replied with an air of wisdom that succeeded in closing the topic immediately. Mel then proceeded in updating her 'aunt' about the latest owner of the book and how she had met Ace who just happened to be hunting down the exact same person.

* * *

The book in question, which contained quite a few dangerously detailed sections on Devil Fruit users, had indeed been stolen by various power hungry pirates in the past. Why Grandpa Diedrick had ever written it in the first place was a mystery to anybody, even himself. It was probably meant for the greater good- the preservation of the memory of the Devil Fruit. At least, that was his excuse. 

Now that it had been swiped for the umpteenth time, everyone who was in any way related to the book (namely the author and his relatives, who were getting pretty sick of this routine) refused to retrieve it.

And so they assigned someone to destroy it once and for all. This just happened to be Mel, who was, not to mention the youngest, the only one who had any chance of achieving said mission. Everyone else was just too dang busy to even think about such a minor task.

Additionally, Mel, having decided that her grandfather's excuse for writing the book had been pretty reasonable, took it upon herself to write a safer, less detailed version of it. Not that she didn't have enough to do already.

* * *

"Hey Auntie Em, aren't you required to hand us over to the navy since you're on a contract? Won't you get into trouble for inviting us into your house?" the blue haired girl voiced as she eyed the blindingly white marine coat with the painfully contrasting black letters that spelled 'Justice' printed along its back. 

The older woman stopped laughing to beam at the pair with a twinkle in her steely grey eyes, "Oh honey, it's past six- I'm off duty. Besides," she winked mischievously, "this isn't my house."

Mel's eyebrows furrowed into a quizzical frown while Ace leaned back in his chair and gave the black haired woman a curious look.

"Don't worry; it doesn't really belong to anyone. The last owner recently passed away, I think." Auntie Em explained plainly, gazing around the somewhat bare room contently.

"Ah."

"We really didn't need to know that."

The oldest of the three grinned sheepishly at the odd looks she received.

"Never mind. I think it's way past bed time for you two." she went on, sounding suddenly authoritative and motherly. "So you're going to leave this island _right now_."

"What? But-"

"No buts, young lady, now let's go."

* * *

A dark figure watched from the top of an apartment complex as three people hurried down the street, away from the city. He almost chuckled at the way the three were distinctively recognizable. 

The tallest was wearing an unmistakably orange hat, trailing behind the two others like some kind of watch dog. The one in the middle had the bluest hair one could ever imagine having, and the leading figure had a glaringly white marine officer's coat draped around its shoulders. Not to mention that awful bandana.

Smoker puffed on his cigars silently, subconsciously clenching and unclenching a fist as the three figures vanished from sight.

* * *

Ace dropped his bag onto the boat before helping Mel gain back her balance she had oh-so-carelessly abandoned for a second. She grinned appreciatively as she safely found her usual spot on Ace's boat. The pirate gave an acknowledging nod along with a smirk which was his way of saying 'you're welcome'. 

"Hmm… are you two really just traveling together for convenience or is there something…more?" the black haired woman suggested, wiggling her eyebrows at the pair as she stood there on the water's edge with her arms crossed, ready to bid them farewell.

To her dismay, the two seemed to be virtually immune to such obvious implications, judging by the way they both gave her pretty much blank looks. Tsk. Kids these days…

"Anyway," the older woman continued, "don't get yourselves killed or anything."

"We don't do that sort of stuff, Auntie."

"Unless we suddenly decide to kill _each other_-" Ace mentioned offhandedly.

"-in which case we'll make sure to notify you first." Mel finished for him in a very businesslike manner.

And with only a few further words of goodbye, the boat sped away into the night, leaving behind a smiling Auntie Em.

* * *

"_Lieutenant_ Robertson." A voice called from the shadows, stressing the title sardonically. 

"Yes, _Captain _Smoker?" the woman replied, seemingly unperturbed at the sudden appearance of the marine captain. She didn't even bother to face the man as she was busy admiring the reflection of the moon on the surface of the endless sea.

"You just aided in the escape of two criminals." Smoker stated gruffly, glaring at the back of Aunt Em's head as if daring her to face him.

"Aided? They didn't _need _help." she said simply, "Now, _escorted _might be more correct."

The marine captain raised an eyebrow at the nerve of this woman as he puffed on his undying cigars. Then again, he wasn't all too surprised at her behavior. She wasn't in the navy because she necessarily _wanted_ to in the first place. Sometimes he really didn't understand why they would want to blackmail someone like _her_ to work for them.

"Be that as it may," Emily continued, finally turning around to face the irritable man, "it seems to me that you didn't do much to stop them either."

They stared at each other for a while, both refusing to blink. She was just about to give in to a cough that had been building up ever since her lungs had started drawing in the billowing smoke from the captain's cigars when-

"It's getting late." Smoker muttered before turning around to reenter the city. The black haired woman smiled knowingly,

"True." she agreed, following the man quietly.

* * *

"Two…no, three." Ace muttered, hiding behind a wall and shooting glances at the early morning city gates. Mel was crouching next to him, an amused smirk playing on her lips, 

"Sneaking or barging in- that is the question." she mumbled dramatically as she eyed the faraway sunrise in awe.

"We could always just… walk in." her pirate friend suggested with a smirk. The blue haired woman retorted with a kind of doubtful snort. Ace turned to face her with an uncanny glint in his dark eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mel inquired with a theatrical expression of mock fear on her face.

"Because, my dear, you look absolutely stunning today." the young man answered smoothly, grinning wickedly as his friend burst into a fit of stifled laughter. "_And_ I was going to propose a bet."

Mel's controlled laughter died down into a mischievous grin, "I'm listening."

* * *

The marine guard stifled a yawn as he fingered the rifle in his hands distractedly. The other two men, posted respectively on his left and right, were probably just as bored as he was. The one on his right was already asleep. Everybody hated the early morning shifts- it wasn't like some pirates were going to try and enter the city this early anyhow. 

He took a glance behind him, through the wide open gates, to see some activity in the streets already. These people didn't seem to know the meaning of 'sleeping in'. In any case, the marine was a bit annoyed when he suddenly heard an unmistakable snore from his left. Great, now he was the only one left on duty.

He was about to doze off himself when two people approached him. Upon closer inspection, he found that the two seemed to be deep in discussion. Upon even closer inspection, he could see that they were right out shouting at each other. Fantastic.

"Name and business?" he inquired rather timidly as the pair finally reached the gates. They stopped walking but didn't answer the marine, as they were still arguing quite aggressively.

"-know how _worried_ I was? But _no_, you just _had_ to start a fight and-" the woman was saying before the man she was addressing cut her off,

"Look, I _said_ I was sorry!"

"You're _sorry_? That's it?! Do you know how much money I-" she stopped abruptly as the marine cleared his throat. The man almost cringed as her deadly glare fell on him instead.

"_What!?_" she practically screamed. It was a miracle that the two other marines hadn't woken up yet. Then again, they were probably just pretending now.

"Umm… name and business, please?" his voice cracked halfway through, making him sound even more apprehensive.

"You should stop shouting at innocent bystanders, you know." the black haired man put in, frowning at the seething woman next to him. An ironic smirk appeared on her lips, eye twitching.

"Oh really? And destroying an entire restaurant is okay, hmm?"

"I apologized! What is it that you _want_, woman?!" her opponent gave an aggravated growl at the sour look he was receiving.

"A better husband, maybe!" the blue haired woman yelled, tears threatening to fall from her deep blue eyes, "And _you_ said you'd _always _love me!"

The marine was dumbstruck at the sudden twist of topic. What in the world were they so upset about anyway? He opened his mouth to intervene, but found that he couldn't think of anything to say. The black haired man, however, frowned at the now whimpering woman and uttered,

"Oh yeah? Well, _you_ said the same thing!" The woman gave a spectacularly heart wrenching sob at this before running past the unsuspecting marine guard, weeping noisily into her hands. The young man quickly followed after letting out another frustrated sigh.

"Uh…" the marine blinked again. "That was weird."

* * *

Mel collapsed into hysterical laughter, wiping away tears of mirth once the pair had arrived in an empty alley. Ace slumped down next to her, laughing just as hard. 

"I can't believe…" the young woman gasped in between uncontrollable giggles, "…he actually bought it!"

"Of course he did, but _I_ can't believe you actually _cried_." the pirate put in, having calmed down to the point that he could actually speak. Mel mumbled something about crying whenever she was being forced not to laugh. Ace decided that it was probably better to avoid the subject for now.

"Whatever- you owe me." he stated.

"Nuh uh. You placed your bet on 'walking into the city', not 'putting up a show and practically running into the city'. If anything, you owe _me_." Mel pointed out determinately. Ace stared at her for a while before shrugging.

"...Never mind."

And without further ado, the two got up and proceeded in finding a shop that was open at sunrise. It didn't take long to find one, seeing that the city was already bustling with activity. Although this would have struck them as being a bit strange, the two never really paid much attention to their surroundings to notice such things.

* * *

"Here you go." Tashigi said kindly, helping an old woman gather up the groceries she had dropped. The elderly woman thanked the young marine and stumbled on her way. 

A rather large marine came hurrying into the scene, waving a telegram of sorts, "Officer Tashigi! We've received a message from Captain Smoker!"

The young woman pushed up her thick, horn rimmed glasses and smiled at the marine as he handed her the note.

'Return to Logue town base. Beware of Fire Fist Ace & Diedrick T. Mel.' was scribbled on it in barely legible script. Tashigi reread the note; sure she must have missed something. But no, that was all it said. She didn't even recognize the second name, although it seemed vaguely familiar.

"Please tell everyone to meet here as soon as possible." she told the marine who left with a curt nod as soon as this was said.

"I wonder who this is supposed to be?" Tashigi mumbled, eyeing the note thoughtfully. She looked up only when she realized that she was standing in everyone's way. Thus, she decided to find a more secluded spot to ponder in. As she passed the side of a building, she froze to stare at a particular spot on the wall.

Several brand new posters had been put up, covering the old ones of a blue haired woman.

"…Oh."

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments: **No, I haven't forgotten Tashigi- as you can see here (…I actually forgot about her until now.) Well, this chapter may seem a bit weird, but that's only because the house next to ours had been painted and the smell has been wafting through our house for quite some time. 

I think I got high on it or something.

As to what Ace and Mel were pretending to argue about, I have no idea. Go ask 'em.

Check out my dA gallery- I've got another scrap and a sketch of Mel up. Those of you who always visit to support me, thank you very, very much.

By the way, we've hit 100 reviews! W00T!!!

**Thank you for making this possible**:

madlibs44: Hmm… not much fluff in this one. Sorry. I hope you liked it anyway.

EternallyJinxed: Wow… I didn't think Smoker would show up again, but LOOK! There he is AGAIN!! Thanks, I really wanted this story to be different in that the OC would never actually become a pirate. Because Mel is just too special. I hope you liked this chapter as well. Did you finish all of your work?

God'sAngel: That jealous scene has yet to make an appearance, but I think it will someday. Of course, Auntie Em _did_ make a comment on the two, but, as you can see, they didn't get it. Ha. Thanks for the review.

TrunksgirlBlaze27: I know, it just…ends!! And then I have to write… more!! Is this quick enough for you? It's not even shortened. Thanks for the review!

Why.Is.The.Sun.Blue: Aww, thank you! It takes practice…lots and lots of practice. Haha. Don't worry, I'll keep writing… even if the world explodes… (?) I was going to end this around chapter 13 but now… I don't want to let it GO!! The possibilities are endless!! Therefore, you will keep getting updates until I utterly get sick of this thing. Which won't happen unless people stop reviewing.

WingedSerpent: Thanks to you, I just DID find a good, English OP site. THANK YOU!!! You reread it? Ha. Thank you so much. Please tell me if you catch any mistakes. By the way, you were the 100th reviewer who triggered this update! I hope you liked this chapter. Please continue reading.

Unknown Fan: Umm... it kind of looks as though your review was cut off or something… Oh well, thanks for reviewing anyway!

xX-Avast-Xx : Oh shoot, I didn't think of that. Well, actually I DID, I just never took it seriously. Alas, we shall just do it my way. Let's just say Mel is from a different side of the world… which she probably is anyhow. Thanks for the helpful review!

Smartass4684: I think all of the people here will agree that those fanfics are just hopeless and…well…sad. Hmm… is there a lot of stuff about Mel here? Not really. She really doesn't have much of a past, I tell you. Hehe. Thanks for reviewing!

Solo Loco Ellingson-Rose: Thank you so much! I love the name by the way.

P-chan-S: Whoa… Zombified... here's more- enjoy!

firefistACE888888: It DOES sound cool, doesn't it? Ha. Is this soon enough? I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

guest: No, actually, not her aunt. Just her nanny. Here- I did continue. Hope you like it.

Fiery-Wolf-Angel: How's this? Same length, higher frequency. Hahaha. I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up though… I think Auntie Em will show up at random intervals from now on. Thanks for reviewing.

Artemis die Jaegerin: Achso, ich hab' mir schon gedacht du kommst nicht mehr. Ich hoffe dass der Umzug tadellos gelaufen ist. Im zehnten Kapitel gibts ein bisschen Romantik, du wirst schon sehn. Nee, sie arbeitet für niemandem. Hehe.

* * *

Those of you who've seen my 'artwork' and are thinking of maybe drawing Mel, GO AHEAD! It would make me oh so very happy. 

Please Review, and you won't have to go through the agony of waiting another month.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **Wow, _lots_ of reviews. Keep 'em coming! Looks like a lot of you actually read the disclaimer. Thanks a lot for all the support. I'm sorry for the delay but… it hasn't been a month! Two more days and it would have been-but hey!

I don't own anything in this fic besides the plot and my OCs, namely Mel, Auntie Em, Eldon, Jayden & Jordan, and Captain Orbell. There are more. Talk about spoilers. Haha.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XII**

"Gee…"

Mel stared steadily at the extraordinarily orange hat which was now the only part of Ace she could see. The fearless pirate sitting across the table had fallen asleep in his food…again.

"…Am I _that _boring?" she mused while a fond smile appeared on her lips at the comical situation she was facing. The young pirate let out a snore through his half-eaten plate of hot pasta (much to his companion's amusement) and didn't seem to mind the fact that his pillow was probably scorching his face.

"More tea, miss?" a friendly looking old man with bushy eyebrows, the owner of the inn himself, asked with a pot of hot tea in hand. He didn't seem to mind the fact that there was a dead looking man sitting across from the woman he was addressing. Mel nodded and thanked the innkeeper as he refilled her cup with the steaming hot liquid.

The atmosphere of the inn itself was very pleasant. Although it was still before noon, there were quite a few people gathered around the tables, sharing the latest news and devouring their late breakfasts. Mel picked up a newspaper someone had left on the table next to hers and with one last amused glance at the sleeping pirate, started flipping through the pages.

* * *

Tashigi sighed. She wasn't sure of what to do; the short note Smoker had sent her really wasn't helping her as much as she had expected it to. Was she supposed to capture those two criminals now or what? Then again, she knew that they wouldn't stand a chance against _Fire Fist Ace_ without the captain there to support them.

Diedrick T. Mel however, was a different story. Upon studying the warrant closely, Tashigi had found that there was now a bounty for the blue haired woman's _bag_, as well. It probably contained something…illegal- or maybe something stolen? In any case, if that woman was rumored to be in this city, Tashigi was going to do her best to catch her.

The marine officer sighed again before stepping into a nearby inn to ask the people whether they had seen a blue haired woman with a large bag.

* * *

A sudden hush fell over the place as everyone looked up to examine the newcomers. The first to enter was a black haired woman who looked normal enough, except for the sword she was holding. The man who followed her however, was undoubtedly a marine. Then again, he could have been dressed in the navy uniform just because he liked it-but that was very unlikely.

Time seemed to stand still until everyone simultaneously went back to enjoying their food and minding their own business. Even Mel went back to reading the newspaper as if everything was under control- which, of course, it wasn't. It was only a matter of seconds until she would realize the seriousness of the situation.

"Excuse me," said Tashigi, addressing the innkeeper and pulling out some kind of poster, "have you seen this woman somewhere?"

Mel froze, still hidden behind her reading material. Great. Always when she was drinking tea. She loosened her grip on the paper, letting it flop over a bit so as to take a good look at whoever seemed to be searching for her. Of course, they could just be looking for some other woman. Yeah right.

"Other than on every single wall in town, you mean?" the old man with bushy eyebrows replied slowly, smiling pleasantly at the black haired woman. The marine standing behind her was studying the people in the inn one by one, and just when he turned towards the direction Mel was sitting, she straightened her newspaper with a noticeably loud rustle. Ace was still peacefully sleeping in his pasta, the huge tattoo on his back conveniently hidden by a shirt he happened to be wearing.

Before hiding behind her paper once more, Mel had noticed the townspeople shooting nervous glances in her direction. Wait, _nervous _glances? But never mind that, there wasn't much time to mull over this strange behavior.

"Hmm…let's see…" the innkeeper started, absentmindedly wiping some water off of a glass cup and frowning thoughtfully. The two marines stared at the old man expectantly, anxiously holding their breaths. He had that effect on people.

When Mel realized that she herself had been rooted to the spot by all the suspense, she quickly gathered her wits and carefully propped up the newspaper on the table, using the salt and pepper shaker as feeble support.

"…I _think_…" the old innkeeper continued in a painfully slow way, giving Mel more than enough time to grab her bag and sneak towards the exit. She would've taken Ace along, of course, but he wasn't in a very cooperative mood right now; having fallen asleep in his food and all. He wasn't the one in jeopardy right now anyway.

And then several things happened quite quickly. Having had enough of the old man's drawling words; the marine had turned around to catch sight of Mel's not so spectacular attempt at escaping. The blue haired woman, spotting this, threw all cautions to the wind and hurtled out the door with a sound somewhere between a squawk and a shout.

The marine didn't hesitate to follow her, only to be stopped by someone's leg getting in the way. Tashigi pulled out her sword and stormed out the door in pursuit of Mel after jumping over the marine who had crashed to the floor.

"…she just left." the innkeeper concluded.

* * *

"I just wanted to finish my tea!" Mel stated quite honestly while she ran away from certain imprisonment. There was no way she was going to be interviewed again this time unless the navy was weirder than she thought-not that she had any intention of finding out.

"You! Stop!" someone yelled from down the street. It was the black haired marine officer, looking more than a bit annoyed and determined. Mel took just a second to face the other woman who was catching up fast.

"Okay." She stopped. Tashigi blinked in confusion, toppling to a halt past where the woman had paused. Mel grinned through the small cloud of dust that had formed and instead started running back the way they had originally come from. She loved messing with the marines.

* * *

Ace awoke with a confused snort. He had just dreamt of orange hippos trying to kidnap his hat. Wiping his face on the table cloth, he gingerly reached for the hat on his head, just to make sure. Good, still there.

He stared at the rather large newspaper propped up in front of him. The paper didn't appear to like being stared at, as it decided to flop down on the table, revealing the fact that nobody was hiding behind it anymore.

How long had he been asleep? The young pirate quickly took to finishing his pasta before noticing the small bag of coins lying beside a full cup of still steaming tea. The duffel bag was gone also. That was strange. Mel was not one to neglect a cup of tea like that. That would just be rude, she had said once.

"Ah, you're awake." an old man with bushy eyebrows approached Ace with a smile. "You might want to follow that young lady."

"What happened, exactly?" the pirate asked curiously, getting up and handing the man Mel's bag of coins. He had told his companion about the pranks his fellow pirates used to pull on him- leaving him with the bill whenever he fell asleep in his food and such. 'Those poor innkeepers,' was what she had said before developing a habit of paying for Ace's food as well as her own. How she never seemed to run out of money he didn't know- but that was beside the point.

"Some marines came to look for her." the innkeeper explained simply after accepting the money.

"Oh. Thanks." was all Ace said, and then he was gone.

* * *

"Whoa!" Mel gasped, having turned a corner only to be pulled through an open door.

"Shh!!" Someone hissed, quickly slamming the door shut and leaning against it as if trying to hear what was going on outside. They heard the marines dashing by like a herd of elephants. Then the sound of footsteps slowly vanished into the distance. Mel was catching her breath from all the running, and finally took a look around the room she had stumbled into.

The thick curtains blocked the sun from illuminating the dim room. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, she identified a group of at least four other people standing or sitting around a table. The person who had pulled her in turned out to be a teenage boy, barely reaching her shoulders.

"Uh… thanks." Mel muttered, blinking at the stares she was receiving.

"Diedrick T. Mel, right?" the boy started, staring up at the woman with a determined look. She just nodded.

"We need your help." said one of the others.

* * *

"Where'd she go?!" Tashigi exclaimed, eyeing the empty main street which she had just arrived in, followed closely by a group of marines.

"Officer! Should we search the buildings?" a marine inquired after seeing that even the townspeople seemed to have disappeared.

"Not yet." the marine officer replied calmly, "We should report to the marine base on this island."

Ace raised an eyebrow at this. He had just found the group of marines after jumping over rooftops in search of his companion. He hadn't known that there was a marine base on this island. Great, more trouble. The young pirate grinned before jumping down from a roof and landing with a soft thud.

The marines had already cleared out, no doubt towards said marine base. As soon as they did, people started reappearing and going back to attending their momentarily abandoned stands once more. Ace blinked- these people were certainly a bit strange.

* * *

"Hold on, you want me to do WHAT?" Mel inquired quite calmly, only raising her voice at the last word. The residents of the house she had randomly been pulled into just stared at her. Again.

"Well, you're obviously not a friend of the navy, and you've got a _huge _bounty on you, so-" the dark haired teenage boy pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Stop right there," Mel put in quickly, holding up a hand emphatically, "that does _not_ mean anything. Do I _look_ like the type who can fight?"

The people raised their eyebrows at her. There were two older people, obviously the parents, and a little girl and boy who looked very much alike. Ah, twins.

"...Wrong answer." The blue haired woman said after a round of staring. Honestly, what _were_ they thinking?

"But the whole town is depending on you!" the little girl squeaked, hiding behind her twin brother who really wasn't any taller than her. Mel sighed. This explained the strange behavior of the people in the inn.

"I understand that you need help. Being under control by some tyrannical marine captain really isn't fun." she started sympathetically, "But you've picked the wrong person."

The family members lowered their heads dejectedly as their would-be-savior opened the door and stepped out into the sun.

"I am no hero."

The teenage boy, whose name happened to be Eldon, glared at the door that had just slammed shut, gritting his teeth in frustration. His mother sighed.

"Eldon, I'm sorry." she voiced timidly, approaching her son in worry. The boy didn't give any sign that he had heard her. Instead, he quickly opened the drawer of a cupboard near the door and pulled out a gun. He turned around to face his family with a determined look.

"I don't care if nobody will help! _Somebody_ has to do something...! And _I_ will!" he shouted, looking quite intimidating with the firearm at his side. His family was speechless at his sudden outburst, and failed to stop him as he stormed out the door.

* * *

"Do I really look like I could defeat some ridiculously powerful marine captain?" Mel grumbled, clutching another cup of hot tea.

"They must have believed whoever said, 'Looks are deceiving.'" Ace commented, who, having practically run into his friend earlier, was now sitting in the very same inn they had been in that morning. Because Mel had liked the tea they served there.

"Are you implying that I look like a weakling?" the young woman said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the pirate. He shrugged, a smirk appearing on his face.

"I never said that, did I?" he replied innocently. She had told him about her little encounter and was now looking quite upset about the whole thing. It was either that or the cup of tea she had abandoned that morning she was distressed about. 'Most likely the latter...' Ace thought secretly.

"Right. You'd _never_ say that." Mel stated with a snort before their attention was turned to the two children who suddenly stumbled into the inn. The innkeeper stopped what he was doing and came to their aid.

"Jayden! Jordan! What are you two doing here?" he asked as the two clung to his legs.

"Granpa! It's Eldon!" the little girl squeaked worriedly.

"He's gone to challenge Captain Orbell!" the little boy, who had a striking resemblance to the girl, shouted.

"What? Again?" the innkeeper frowned anxiously.

Mel blinked at the two children. Hadn't she seen them before? Ace just raised an eyebrow at the scene. What kind of name was Captain _Orbell_ anyway? Maybe his head was shaped like a doorbell. Whatever that meant.

"But this time he took the gun!" the little girl exclaimed, getting all worked up at the prospect of something happening to her older brother. Her twin brother did the same.

"I think I know who they're talking about…" the blue haired woman muttered to her friend. Ace nodded as the innkeeper was dragged out of the inn by his two grandchildren.

"Want to help them?" he suggested mildly, eyeing her with a look that clearly said that _he_ was going to do so whether she liked it or not. He really wanted to see what this Orbell person looked like. She sipped her tea thoughtfully before standing up.

"After you."

* * *

They secretly followed the old man and his grandchildren which wasn't very hard to do, considering the fact that the three weren't really fast. Really, Ace and Mel were practically walking- and that was enough to keep up with the stumbling trio.

"If we knew where this marine base _was, _we would be there by now." Mel pointed out unnecessarily, staring at the three they were following as if willing them to go faster. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"It's probably the biggest building on the island." Ace guessed with a shrug, glancing at his friend to see a why-didn't-I-think-of-that look on her face. He grinned.

"Brilliant." she said and started running, passing the two children and old man without further thought. The pirate jumped on the nearest house and followed his friend via rooftops. That way he would have a better view of things.

It was good that he did, because soon enough he spotted a small troop of marines marching right towards Mel. She, for some reason, hadn't seen them yet. But that probably had something to do with the main street being packed with early afternoon shoppers.

Ace quickly jumped back onto the street, next to the blue haired woman, and ushered her into the nearest narrow alley.

"Wha-?"

"You were about to run into _that_." He muttered into her ear, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her around to see the marines who were marching along the street.

"Really? Wow, I never saw 'em coming." Mel replied, crossing her arms and trying hard not to think about the fact that the young pirate's head was really close to hers at the moment.

"What, no 'thank you'?" He said, looking absolutely devastated at the prospect of not hearing that particular phrase from the young woman.

"Maybe later." she answered dismissively, suppressing a laugh and dragging him out of the alley to continue their search for the marine base.

* * *

"Come out you cowards!" Eldon shouted with his cracking voice which did not quite impress the marines in the building. All might have gone well and they would have been content with ignoring the boy if Captain Orbell hadn't decided to go terrorize the townspeople again with his many lackeys.

"What's this?" the marine captain sneered as the gates opened to reveal little Eldon pointing a gun at the man. Captain Orbell certainly looked as evil as he was. His upper body was so bulky and muscular and his shoulders so broad that his tiny waist and spindly legs hardly looked strong enough to support him.

Nevertheless, he stood upright, showing the total effect of his intimidating height. The sun was reflected by his pair of sunglasses which protruded from under his very long eyebrows that somehow looked very much like the antennae of a moth.

The little hair he had left on the back of his head was tied into a sleek and very short ponytail. The fabric of his black suit seemed to be stretched by his overly muscular body. Overall, the captain just looked mean and scary.

Eldon gulped, failing to stop his hands from shaking.

"S...stop bullying the town!" the boy stuttered nervously but determinately, pointing the end of his gun at the marine's head. Captain Orbell looked down on the teenage boy with pursed lips.

"Tashigi, get rid of this nuisance." he jeered. The young marine officer he had addressed blinked in surprise and hurriedly stumbled out from behind him.

"But sir-!" she started, but was quickly silenced by his icy glare. It was amazing how frightening one could look with a pair of sunglasses.

"Has Captain _Smoker_ neglected to teach you about obedience?" Orbell inquired spitefully, making Tashigi blush in anger and embarrassment. At his command, a curt nod, the marines around them had Eldon under control within seconds. The boy tried to struggle out of the iron grip the men had on him, but to no avail.

One of the marines handed the captain Eldon's gun. Tashigi and her subordinates watched in horror as Orbell studied the weapon carefully and proceeded to point it directly at the boy's heart.

"Captain…!"

"He's only a little boy!"

Said little boy was goggling at the firearm in shock, his mind going blank. He had known that Captain Orbell was ruthless, but-

_Bang_.

* * *

Eldon had his eyes squeezed shut. The ear splitting noise had definitely meant that he should be dead, but he didn't feel any different. He could hear the crackling of flames. The boy slowly opened his eyes.

There, in front of him, stood a man with a strange orange hat. His outstretched hand seemed to be on fire. Wait, what?

"Really, aren't you being a bit too harsh?" said the man as the fire gradually died down.

"_Fire fist Ace_?!" a marine yelled incredulously, pointing at the man emphatically.

"Are you alright?" someone else asked Eldon who turned around to stare into a pair of blue eyes. He noticed that the marines that had been holding him in place were gone.

Never mind, they were piled up somewhere to his right, all of them unconscious.

"How did… but I thought… what…" the boy mumbled with a very confused look, staring at the blue haired woman in awe. She grinned before patting him on the head. Eldon blushed.

"I brought reinforcements." she replied simply, nodding towards the man with the orange hat.

"Uh…thanks."

-_to be continued_-

* * *

**Comments: **And so it begins. I always wanted to write a huge battle sequence, and so this chapter is basically a sort of … introduction to it. Yup, chapter thirteen will be action packed. I hope.

See, I could have uploaded half of this chapter about a week ago, but I couldn't get myself to do that. I just had to finish it. I hope you understand.

Wow, _23_ reviews for chapter eleven! Is that awesome or what? I'll be expecting at least 24 for this chapter then. Ha. Kidding.

**Very many thanks to:**

firefistACE888888: Is it just me, or does it always take a month to update whenever you say update soon? Maybe not. Haha, thanks for reviewing.

EternallyJinxed: Ooh, who does she remind you of? I'm so glad that you seem to catch my little jokes here and there that aren't glaringly obvious…that right there is my type of humor, but nobody else seems to appreciate it…! (SOB) Thanks for reviewing and supporting at all times. You're just spiffy.

Fiery-Wolf-Angel: Yes, since the last chapter was updated way too fast (for my standards), this one's a bit late, just to balance things out. Heh. Well, since Auntie Em was 'hired' by the navy, someone has to be in charge of her actions. That just happens to be Smoker. I think they'll come out again soon. Thanks for the review!

Carpe.Deum: Don't we all want a better husband..? Oh wait, I never had one… Anyway, thank you so much- your words were really encouraging!

TrunksgirlBlaze27: School is ruining our vocabulary. Nope, Auntie Em's dad is a figment of my imagination and therefore has nothing to do with the original One Piece plot. Hehe, it took longer for this chapter because of school. That place is evil. Thanks for reviewing…!

God'sAngel: Your review had me laughing the entire day. I find it awesome when my readers suggest stuff like that…! I get all teary eyed and stuff. That was incredible. Anyway, though I didn't use your idea directly, if you look carefully, there are quite a few elements of it in this chapter. The thing is, I'm being really careful with the amount of fluff because I don't want the romance to take over the entire plot. But who knows? Your ideas will probably result in me getting others funky ideas. Thank you so much.

Lunar D. Hayase: hi thanks for the review

WingedSerpent: Hehe, yes, Mel is definitely one spunky OC. I can't believe you dreamed about them. That is so funny. (Mushroom stuffed giant _locusts_..?? Eeerrgh…) That must have been one funky dream. Thanks for looking at my artwork, and thanks for the reviews!

Smartass4684: My parents are too old to tease me…ahem… You're planning on writing a One Piece fic too? Great! I'll be looking forward to it. Thanks for the review.

chase androronoahzorolover: That is one spiffy screen name. I'm glad you like my story.

madlibs44: Funny and weird they are. Thanks for the review!

Unknown Fan: Aha, I knew it was cut off. Yeah that putting-up-a-scene scene really came out of nowhere. Those things always turn out a bit weird. Thanks for reviewing.

Melanthamoree: I agree, Ace needs more attention- although I've read quite a few fics with him lately. Maybe I'm inspiring people. Haha, yeah right. Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing. I'm glad you like this story.

lil1diva: There. Orange hippos. You happy now?? Hahaha. I never cry when I can't laugh… I just go into a fit. Yup, they do sound like an old married couple.. I've heard that a dozen times now. Thanks for the review.

Artemis die Jaegerin: Hehehe. Gut dass es dir gefällt. Ich hoffe du magst dieses Kapitel, obwohl es ziemlich spät ist... Naja. Das nächste Kapitel is bestimmt noch interessanter. Danke Schön!

Zoe: Yes, I try very hard not to neglect my I's. They are, after all, very important. Yeah, I try not to put too much fluff into this thing because Romance really isn't the main focus here. Yes, that would be November. I really don't take six months to update. Only one. Haha. Thanks for reviewing.

acelover 3 : There you are. I was afraid the cops threw you in jail or something. And no, you don't get a cookie. I just ate all of 'em. Sorry. Someone repair that wall, please? It's cold in here! Anyway, you'll have to survive without fluff for a while because it's time for some ACTION! Thanks for the review.

Estelle: Hmm…drama? Probably not. Ace and Mel are just too silly to be dramatic over a long period of time. Although this chapter was a bit serious… The straw hat crew… is somewhere in the sky at this moment. So no, but I think I'll squeeze in a chapter at the end were Mel ends up on their ship or something. Oops. You didn't hear that. Thanks for the review!

Lainana: WHOAAA. Thank you very much.

Laura: Are you still alive? Okay. See? You could handle it just fine. Hahaha. I'll try not to take this long again. I'm glad you like it and thanks for reviewing!

Angelic Sorceress: Your review arrived just as I was about to finish this chapter. That was cool. I didn't think anyone would review at this point. Thanks for looking at my drawings! I hope I can prove that stories can still be good without tons of fluff. Hehe. Thank you.

* * *

The reason I reply to your reviews on the chapter itself and not to your emails is that I sometimes reveal some stuff that I'm planning or explain something you ask about. So then you can read my answers to everyone else's review. I hope nobody's distressed about that… So, if you have any questions (besides: OMG ARE THEY GONNA END UP TOGETHER???!!111!1), feel free to ask them.

Thank you so much for the support- it is dearly appreciated.

I'll try to update soon.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **Looks like I've got some new supporters… huzzah! This calls for another chapter! In which I don't own One Piece!

-------------------------------------------

**lil1diva **asked an interesting question that I am sure a few of you have been wondering about as well:

**Q**: Why does Mel like tea?

**A**: That's because her parents are merchants, and they bring home lots of weird tea. I guess she got a bit addicted to the stuff.

I just wanted to answer that here so that everyone (I hope) can see it.

--------------------------------------------

* * *

**  
Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XIII**

"But…!"

A marine started, unable to finish his sentence through the chattering of his teeth. The sudden cold had caught all of them unawares, as the ship had taken an unexpected detour past a winter island. The black haired woman grinned reassuringly.

"Now now, I'm sure I can handle being by myself for once. You look like you seriously need some rest." she said calmly to the young man who really looked like he was about to faint. He seemed to have caught a cold from the abrupt change of temperature, the dark rings under his eyes showing the immediate need for sleep.

"Gee, that's awfully nice of you, Miss-" the marine began eagerly when he spotted the amused look on the woman's face. "Uh, I mean, Lieutenant!" She chuckled at the young man's hasty correction.

"I know." the black haired woman stated, "Now, shoo." and sent the marine back to his quarters where he belonged. She then strolled towards the tip of the marine ship to stand next to a man with white hair.

He gave no sign that he had noticed her, and instead continued to glare at the vast ocean. Everyone seemed to have taken cover from the cold, as no one else had remained on deck. The woman watched the thick, undying smoke billowing from the captain's twin cigars.

"I wonder if Tashigi has stumbled into them yet." she finally spoke with a hint of seriousness which was betrayed by the ever present amused smile on her face. Captain Smoker shot a glare at the woman from the corner of his eyes, taking the liberty to completely ignore her otherwise and turning his gaze back to the water.

"But never fear; my little Mel would never start a fight." the black haired woman continued matter-of-factly, eyeing the ocean thoughtfully to see what was so interesting.

* * *

"Well, bring it _on_." Mel exclaimed daringly, surrounded by at least a dozen marine soldiers, ready to attack. She wasn't quite sure what had made her say this when all of her opponents were holding swords and she was unarmed, but she couldn't resist. Now that she was without the element of surprise however, her chances of defeating a couple of sword wielding marines were quite slim. 

"Are you crazy?" came a voice from behind her. Eldon, who wasn't so brave anymore without his gun, was more or less hiding behind the blue haired woman and eyeing the enemy soldiers anxiously.

"Not as much as _he_ is," Mel started as she got into fighting stance, nodding towards Ace who was having a staring contest with the marine captain, "but I guess that doesn't say much."

"But you're unarmed!"

"Yes." She replied calmly, "I noticed."

As if on cue, the marines lunged at the two with various shouts and war cries. The teenage boy ducked just in time, getting a few of his dark grey hairs sliced as a blade barely missed his head.

Mel simply dodged each one of the swords quite smoothly as the marines crashed into each other. She was just congratulating herself for managing not to get her eyes poked out when someone else stepped into the scene.

* * *

"_Portgas D. Ace._" Captain Orbell snarled menacingly, failing to intimidate the pirate. 

"_Orbell._" He mimicked mockingly, smirking when the marine captain threw away the gun he had taken from the little boy. Ace found it quite hard to take his opponent seriously- given the circumstances, the ridiculous name, and the moth like eyebrows.

Captain Orbell was not only intimidating (to most children), but also cunning, though his bulky stature gave the impression of blunt strength being the man's only weapon. He knew perfectly well that he couldn't defeat the fire wielding pirate, even with several marine troops to back him up.

"Why don't we make a little… _compromise_?" Orbell said smartly as he adjusted his sunglasses. Ace raised an eyebrow. Now this, he hadn't expected.

"I could let you and your _friend_ over there go quietly."

Ace's eyebrow seemed to disappear into his jet black hair at this point.

"And all you have to do is hand me her bag." the marine captain finished. He said this last bit very fast, as though it would make the proposal more reasonable.

"Hmm, let me think about it." the pirate said, "Nah." he concluded about two seconds later with a smirk.

"And _why_, may I ask, do you decline?" Captain Orbell sneered through gritted teeth. People rarely declined his 'offers'.

"Well, you see, it's not up to me to decide the fate of someone else's property." Ace replied matter-of-factly, giving the man a you-ought-to-know-such-things look. "Now let's get this over with."

* * *

The black haired woman went back to her knitting, and after a while said, "Tashigi will undoubtedly want to challenge Mel to a duel, the way I know her."

* * *

"Diedrick!" Tashigi yelled to get her attention. The blue haired woman raised an eyebrow at being called by her surname and turned to face the marine officer. 

Tashigi threw a marine's sword at the woman.

* * *

Smoker puffed on his cigars wordlessly, silently agreeing to what the female lieutenant had just said. But she wasn't finished yet. 

"However, Mel will refuse."

* * *

"What am I supposed to do with _this_?" Mel asked indignantly, eyeing the sheathed weapon in her hands with the utmost contempt. 

"Fight, of course!" Eldon explained impatiently, "You know: like what you did to all those marines a while ago?"

The blue haired woman looked at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about. Only when the boy pointed at the pile of unconscious soldiers somewhere to their right did she comprehend.

* * *

Smoker again didn't respond. The black haired woman chuckled, knowing all too well that the captain was waiting for an explanation. 

"She refused to take sword fighting lessons, you see."

* * *

'Boy, now I really regret not taking those sword fighting lessons Auntie Em kept offering me.' 

"Well, fine. I guess I have no choice." Mel said, sounding less than eager to go up against an expert swordswoman. She unsheathed the sword dejectedly and got into a rather awkward fighting stance, facing the marine officer.

Tashigi, with a grim look of determination on her face, charged at the woman as soon as they were ready. Her subordinates were gathered behind her, shouting and cheering for their officer.

* * *

"Is she a pacifist or something?" Smoker finally voiced through the thick cloud of smoke gathered around him. He was being sarcastic. 

"In a way, I guess she is." Emily mused, "But not really; it's just that she prefers _survival combat_, as we call it."

* * *

Mel frowned slightly as Eldon practically screamed into her ear and leapt out of the way when her opponent was about to strike. 

The blue haired woman muttered something about kids being so dramatic these days before she quickly blocked the attack with a resounding _clang_. As soon as the blades hit, Mel directed her opponent's weapon away from her, let go of her own sword, dived into a crouching position, and kicked the marine officer's legs out from under her.

* * *

"It has no rules, you see."

* * *

Tashigi gasped before hitting the ground hard, her glasses landing a few feet away from her. The marines and Eldon gaped at the scene, completely awestruck. 

"Before you say anything," Mel began, getting up and dusting off her clothes before insisting that "that wasn't cheating."

* * *

"Impressive." Ace commented earnestly, eyeing the gaping hole in the once perfectly fine wall. He had dodged a punch thrown at him by the marine captain who had then assaulted the innocent wall instead. Fortunately, the house that the wall once belonged to was uninhabited. 

Orbell didn't respond. He was thinking furiously, trying hard to form some kind of strategy to defeat this pirate. Apparently, throwing random punches wasn't working very well. He studied the young man carefully, searching for any possible weak points.

"This guy's better than I thought!" the pirate informed the blue haired woman who was standing not too far away. She in turn raised her eyebrows before noticing the pile of bricks and stones that had once been part of a wall. She emitted a low whistle.

Captain Orbell, who really wasn't stupid at all, observed as the two exchanged comments about quite trivial things. The marine captain had the impression that the two were neutral bystanders, watching the ongoing fight as if they had nothing to do with it. Then something clicked, as it did every once in a while, and Orbell smirked evilly as he realized a potential weak point.

The marine soldiers conversed with each other in confused and hushed voices. Tashigi was still searching for her glasses, getting farther and farther away from them the longer she did, and Eldon was listening to Ace and Mel talking. He thought that they were the craziest people he had ever seen.

The marine captain had finally had enough.

"What are you doing standing around like that, you fools!" he bellowed, giving his subordinates a look of disgust. "Attack!"

* * *

"…and so that idiot _Blackbeard_ is now in possession of that book that the government has been wanting to get its hands on for so long." Auntie Em concluded, tugging lightly on the string which was attached to a thick wad of tangled yarn. The scarf, or whatever it was she was knitting, was already long enough to pile up on the floor at this point. 

Captain Smoker stared at her.

"Why are you telling me all this?" he inquired gruffly after a very rare moment of confusion and a not so rare puff of smoke. The woman, who didn't resemble a marine in the slightest if it hadn't been for the white uniform coat draped around her shoulders, finally looked up to meet the captain's gaze.

"Because you wouldn't share this information with anyone else." she replied, as if it were an obvious statement. "Why would you give the government a chance to threaten your very existence by idiotically telling them where to find this book?" the female lieutenant added as the white haired man narrowed his eyes and scowled at her.

"Why would I even trust that you are telling the truth, Robertson?" he challenged her with his ongoing glare. His subordinate simply went back to her seemingly pointless work of knitting. A cold breeze swept by, causing the atmosphere to become even more unnerving than it already was.

"Now that's just silly." Emily answered with a soft laugh. She turned to look Smoker straight in the eye before saying, "Why _wouldn't_ you trust me?"

Now he was sure she was plotting something.

* * *

What ensued had to be pure chaos, Eldon thought. 

The marines came at them, hollering war cries once more; some of them with ropes and most others with their usual swords. Fortunately, nobody had thought of bringing a gun when Captain Orbell had decided to go on one of his raids again. Not that this encouraged Mel.

"I hate swords."

For once, Ace was too distracted by the enemy to comment on that. Although Orbell certainly didn't look it, he was actually quite fast when it came to executing his fool proof plans. The pirate was dodging the attacks quite nicely without resorting to his Devil Fruit powers, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his freckled face.

But with every blow that narrowly missed the young man, Captain Orbell seemed to be edging closer to the other ongoing battle in which Mel was once again desperately trying to preserve her precious skin.

Eldon had just about had enough excitement to last for the rest of his life, but this day was far from over. It was only early afternoon, after all.

He had picked up the sword that the blue haired woman had carelessly abandoned earlier, only to find that he couldn't figure out how to effectively use it either. So he dropped the heavy thing unto the nearest marine's foot and ran around trying to find cover.

In his fruitless attempts to become invisible, he stumbled upon his gun. The boy was about to pick it up when a nearby marine noticed his actions, stepped in his way and kicked the gun away from Eldon's outstretched arms. The weapon spun around in the air a few times before landing accurately on top of a certain marine officer's head with a loud _thunk_, finally knocking out the poor woman.

Mel was just backing away from a couple of pointy sword tips when she tripped over the unconscious Tashigi, only to land on her backside, right next to Eldon's gun. The marines surrounding the blue haired woman stared at the firearm, then at their target, then back at the shiny thing on the floor. Mel followed their stares and grinned wickedly as her eyes fell upon her little ray of hope.

Her opponents froze as she stood up with the gun in her hands. Eldon took the chance to hide behind the young woman.

"'Eldon', right?" Mel asked offhandedly as she checked how many bullets she had.

The boy made a sound of confirmation which turned into a frightened yell at the sudden, unmistakable sound of three consecutive gunshots. The bullets barely missed a few heads before disappearing from the scene. The men who had practically felt the bullets shoot past them immediately dropped their swords in panic, some of them latching unto the nearest soldier in fear. Some guy fainted.

The remaining marines seemed to come back to life immediately. A few had had enough and proceeded to retreat into the marine base. Someone knocked his fellow soldier down by accident, resulting in a number of men toppling to the ground like a row of dominoes. The dust that was upset by this huge amount of activity flew into the air in thick clouds.

The dust finally cleared after a few moments to reveal most of the marine troops lying on the ground. Eldon's jaw dropped.

Mel smirked. "Now _that_ is how you use a gun."

Just then something big flew past the two only to crash into the nearest house which then visibly crumbled to pieces. This time, Mel's jaw dropped. She had caught a glimpse of an orange hat.

* * *

Ace had been thoroughly distracted at the sound of gunshots and Orbell had taken the chance to finally give the young man a taste of his monstrous power. 

Eldon turned away from the shocked woman to stare at the massive Captain looming over them. His heart seemed to drop straight into his stomach.

"Uh…" the boy uttered, tugging on Mel's sleeve in an attempt to get the woman to turn around and run away or something. She did so very slowly, the foreboding feeling in her gut telling her that it might not have been such a good idea to use all of the bullets in the gun she was holding.

Mel looked up to meet Captain Orbell's evil sneer. "Umm… don't hurt me?" she tried with a feeble smile, dropping the now useless gun and clutching her faithful bag for support. The man continued to glare down at her. "Oh forget it. Your eyebrows are clearly telling me that you're way too evil."

And before she knew it, she was thrown into the partly demolished house.

Eldon gasped from behind a pile of unconscious marines, having sneaked off before the blue haired woman was wiped off the scene as well. Now he wished he would have stayed at home with his family.

* * *

Ace coughed irritably. When the dust had been about to settle, he had finally managed to put his hat back on after breaking out of the huge pile of rubble- only to be knocked back into it by a rather large flying object. He was about to push it off when the thick cloud dust cleared a bit and he realized what it was. 

"Mel?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and shaking her shoulders lightly. She finally stirred after a few pokes and nudges.

"Can't a girl faint in peace?" she growled crossly, sitting up with a groan. How she had ended up on top of Ace, she couldn't imagine. The young woman stared at the black haired pirate who stared right back with a raised eyebrow. Seconds passed.

"Mel?"

She blinked.

"Would you kindly get off of me?" Ace suggested with an amused smirk. Mel blinked a few more times before getting to her senses and hurriedly jumping off of her friend.

"Right. Sorry." she apologized quickly, hiding the blush that was threatening to show itself by turning around and dusting herself off. All bones seemed to be in tact, though her white jacket was now utterly ruined.

Ace only grinned knowingly and handed her the bag that had landed a few feet away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eldon was panicking behind his hiding place. Orbell was coming closer, kicking the bodies of his subordinates as he went. The boy dared to peek around the sad pile of bodies and found that the fearsome marine captain had disappeared. He sighed in relief. The man had probably returned to the marine base. 

"Well, well. What have we here?"

Or not.

Eldon gave a frightened yelp as he was picked up by the back of his shirt by none other than Captain Orbell. The boy was just beginning to imagine what death would be like when an unexpected noise broke his train of thoughts.

"Unhand him, you fiend!" came a wheezy voice from behind them. It seemed as though Eldon's siblings and their grandpa had finally arrived after a ridiculously long amount of dawdling. They stood there, an old innkeeper with his two grandchildren hiding behind him. Eldon was now beginning to imagine what it would be like to die in front of his family members.

Orbell was about to go into a fit of mad laughter upon seeing the three newcomers shaking in fear when someone cleared his throat somewhere to their left.

"You heard the old man- unhand him, you fiend!" said Ace emphatically, looking perfectly alright after being buried alive in some very heavy walls as he stepped out of the ruins closely followed by Mel. Who also looked perfectly fine, if not a bit dusty.

"Yeah… what he said." uttered a flustered Mel when it was time for her to say something. Everyone turned to stare at her weirdly. "_Whaat_ ?" Then they ignored her.

"Do I look stupid enough to let this boy go- just like that?" snarled the marine captain contemptuously.

The twins nodded mutely while their grandfather suddenly started coughing, Eldon gave a snort which quickly turned into an innocent sniff, Mel gave a convincing sneeze which sounded oddly like a 'Yes,' and Ace simply answered, "Yup."

Captain Orbell glared at them all in turn.

* * *

"Captain Smoker! We just received message that Portgas D. Ace and Diedrick T. Mel are threatening to overthrow the marine base on that island that Officer Tashigi is on!" a marine yelled in one breath as he skidded to a halt in front of the two. 

Auntie Em frowned. "Well, that doesn't seem to make any sense at all now, does it?" she said thoughtfully. Smoker only puffed on his undying cigars. Then another marine soldier came toppling into view, looking even more disconcerted than the previous one.

"Captain Smoker! We just received message that Officer Tashigi's troop has been completely wiped out!" he gasped frantically.

"Knocked out, you mean?" The black haired woman suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, that!"

"There's a big difference, you know."

"Sorry, Lieutenant."

They were silenced immediately by a thick cloud of smoke making it momentarily impossible to breathe. The marine captain scowled irritably as his subordinates coughed and gasped for air as the smoke finally cleared away.

"Turn the ship." he growled when they had finally calmed down, "We're going to pick up those idiots." One of the marines, the first one to be exact, looked at the man quizzically.

"But Captain, we don't really need to _turn_-"

"Just do as I say." Smoker commanded with another glare.

"Yes, sir!" and with that, the two marines ran off.

Emily chuckled, draping the scarf she had just finished around her neck. "By the way," she mentioned, "who were you referring to when you said 'those idiots'?"

Captain Smoker glared down at her before replying gruffly,

"You know exactly who I mean."

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments:** Dun dun dun. Yeeah... that took a while, didn't it? Thank my internet for spontaneously going on a vacation. That's how I finished most of this chapter yesterday- no distractions. I'm putting it up today because I was stopped by a giant cockroach yesterday (true story). Man, that thing was scary. 

Well, I don't really have anything to say about this chapter except- SORRY FOR THE DELAY! – and – I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!

Thank you for reviewing:

Angelic Sorceress: I knew someone would do that! Anyway, there actually wasn't that much action in this chapter… but as you can probably tell, there'll be more in the next. Thank you.

TrunksgirlBlaze27: Look! More fluff! Well, as long as the new Ace fics are good- I will not complain. Ace actually didn't really fight in this chapter. He got thrown into a wall. But hey. Thank you for always reviewing.

Why.Is.The.Sun.Blue: I was going to put Mel doing something funny to the marines in this chapter, but you'll see more of that in the next, I think. Thanks for the suggestions, they are always welcome. But no, I won't blow up any schools in this story. Because there aren't any to begin with! Mwahahahahahahaaa!

firefistACE888888: You had a dream with orange hippos? That is so cool. Thanks for reviewing. Oh, and did you look at my Scraps section of dA yet?

EternallyJinxed: Oh I love it when people catch my in-between humor. I'm really glad you like my writing. I hope this chapter lightens up your day as well! You get two Spiffy Points for drawing Mel. Twice. Thank you oh so very much! Have a nice day.

fluffywhitekitsune: Uh oh. You can't do that! We still need that hat! Here, the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for drawing Mel! That was so awesome of you!

Solo Loco Ellingson-Rose: It's simply pronounced Dee-drick. Thanks for asking, and thank you for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter.

Fiery-Wolf-Angel: Oh yes, I am indeed very sly when it comes to putting fluff into my story. Ha. I'm glad you picked it up. I have a new painting up somewhere in my gallery, if you haven't seen that one yet go and check it out! Thanks for reviewing.

Lunar D. Hayase: Ummm… you see... I kinda tried that once... and Ace came out so ...not-Ace-ish that I wanted to cry. But who knows? Maybe I will. As a grand finale or something. Though you can ask me for a drawing of Mel anytime- a drawing with Ace in it as well will take a lot of time. Because I am a perfectionist in that way. Thanks for the review!

Lainana: Aww, thanks! You're right. I would steal his hat too… at least for a few moments. I hope you liked this chapter.

lil1diva: Eech… orange porridge? Imagine that. I answered that question up in the disclaimer. She probably likes crumpets and scones too though, although I have no idea whether she is English. I don't think there are any English people in One Piece. Does your friend have an accent? I just love accents. Thanks for the review.

Smartass4684: Here, even more chapter stuff. Enjoy. Thank you.

Zoe: Hey, you know a lot about Koreans, don't you? That's funny. Thanks for reviewing.

WingedSerpent: Wow. Thank you so much for the lengthy review. Sorry for taking more than a month. I was getting into the Christmas spirit…a bit too much. Did you like this chapter? It's a bit weird because I wrote separate scenes at completely different times. I promised a lot of action…which means that Mel didn't get any tea in this chapter. I agree, those marines really have no respect for tea. Thanks for looking at my dA stuff, I think I updated some more, so you can go ahead and take a look. Again, thank you.

God'sAngel: Suggestions are always welcome. I just love them. Thanks for the messages you sent me- I didn't get to replying all of them, sorry. Wait… I forgot about the jealousy scene (whoops). It'll come out one day, promise! That ball-thing is actually quite a good idea… Hmm… I dunno… we'll see. Thank you so much for reviewing- I hope you liked this chapter.

Purrrrfectpixie: Wow, you read this thing several times? That's wonderful! Oh, and, in my opinion, chocolate can never be bad for you. Unless you forget to brush your teeth and end up going to the dentist like I just did. I hope you're not too angry that this update was late. Thank you so much for the review!

Artemis die Jaegerin: Bitte schön. Ich war ja ein paar Tage lang in Deutschland, deswegen hat es ein bisschen gedauert. Naja, so groß war diese Kampfszene ja auch nicht. Ich hoffe du hast dieses Kapitel genauso gern wie die letzten, oder vielleicht noch mehr! Danke für das Review!

* * *

Review and I promise to...uh... keep on writing. (As if I wasn't going to do that already) Ahem. 

By the way, does anyone want to help me on writing a **decent summary** for this fic? I can't seem to think of anything.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **Yay for reviews! Looks like it's time to update- with another chapter in which I don't own stuff from One Piece!

TrunksgirlBlaze27 asked why in the world Mel came out of that scene in the last chapter completely unscathed. Yes, yes, I know- that doesn't seem realistic. Don't worry; she's not indestructible or anything. I was just making fun of how in One Piece, everyone seems to just go on fighting with the most serious injuries (…weirdos). Mel is just one of those people who notices the weirdest and most insignificant things but can ignore the glaringly obvious ones (like injuries) until someone points them out.

And I just realized that I have over 170 reviews. You guys rock.

**EDITED:** I added the dividers... Wow, I totally forgot about them this time- thanks for reminding me, **Deanna** !

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XIV**

"You're kidding."

Lieutenant Robertson stared at the marine rather glumly. The young man who had just informed her exactly what marine base they were heading to blinked.

"No ma'am. Captain Orbell really_ is_ the one in command there." he replied, sounding a bit confused at the woman's odd reaction. Emily sighed before dismissing the marine with a bored wave.

"Honestly, I despise that man." she muttered, subconsciously drumming her fingers on the railing as she studied the approaching island. The expression on the woman's face soon turned into one of poorly concealed glee. She smirked.

"This ought to be amusing."

* * *

"How about this," said Ace with a smirk after several minutes of absurd and pointless bargaining with the marine captain, "you let the boy go, and I won't hurt you too badly."

The captain scowled at the young pirate, still holding poor Eldon up like a stray cat. The boy hadn't even tried to struggle out of the death grip Captain Orbell had on him, so he just hung there, bored. Mel was frowning at some particularly dirty spots on the sleeve of her once white jacket, and Eldon's family members were simply standing there, waiting for something drastic to happen. If Eldon hadn't been in the way, Ace wouldn't have hesitated to burn the marine captain into submission on the spot.

Mel finally looked up when the situation was turning into a boring argument and suggested, "Or how about I give you my bag and you let the poor thing go?"

Everyone turned to stare at her. Then they turned to inspect Captain Orbell. The man had an unpleasant smirk which was immediately wiped off his face by the heavy bag that had been thrown at his head, causing Orbell to let go of Eldon. The boy immediately ran to his family to be assaulted by hugs.

"Please, go ahead." Mel said, having chucked her possessions at Orbell's head and indicating towards the irritated marine captain while giving her friend a graceful bow, rather like a waitress. Ace's smirk widened.

Captain Orbell silently shouldered Mel's bag, glaring at the pirate before switching his gaze to the blue haired woman who had stepped away a few feet. Apparently noticing this, Ace took a step to his right so that he was now directly between his friend and the marine captain whose lips curled into a sneer.

"You may leave this island quietly." said the man, though he was perfectly aware that his offer would be ignored.

"Oh, but we're just getting started." replied the young pirate cheerfully.

* * *

Word had spread concerning the battle in front of the marine base at the center of town, which was only natural judging by the way everyone had seen the twins dragging along their grandpa while shouting about some kind of disaster. Others had sworn that they had seen _Fire Fist Ace_ and a blue haired woman headed for the same direction earlier.

A few nosy children had been sent to observe the scene and were now running around the streets, announcing that there was a huge fight going on. Most everyone was out on the streets, curious as to what the outcome of the battle would be. The situation became even more exciting when someone announced that a marine ship was arriving.

Soon the streets fell into a sudden hush as a group of marines entered the city gates, lead by a man with white hair and a cloud of smoke billowing around him. The townspeople again sent a couple of children to the marine base to warn the strangers of the arrival of more marines. The young pirate who was currently battling the infamous Captain Orbell had become somewhat of a hero through all the gossip that had spread like wildfire.

* * *

"That was it?" said Mel after a few seconds of stunned silence as she eyed the pile of burned rubble that contained a knocked-out marine captain. The fight had basically ended as soon as Eldon was out of the way, with Ace retrieving the dropped bag that belonged to his friend and returning it to her with a wide grin.

"Well, it _is_ getting a bit late." he replied conversationally, referring to the sun that was slowly setting. Mel agreed wholeheartedly.

And as they were strolling away from the still-shocked bystanders (Eldon & Co.), a few children came running into view, one of them running right into the blue haired woman and almost knocking her over if it hadn't been for Ace who immediately grabbed a hold of her. The children had just come from near the harbor to spread the news of the additional marines. Amidst gasping and panting, they managed to convey the message to the pair before dashing back to the center of town; all this in a matter of seconds.

The two looked at each other before blinking at the spots where the children had previously stood. It was then that Mel realized that the young pirate was still holding onto her, an arm wrapped protectively around her waist as he had saved her from getting run over by a small kid. She gulped.

"Uh…" she started, her face screwed up in concentration as she fought to keep down another blush that was threatening to show itself across her cheeks.

"Yup, time to go." Ace cut in, apparently not noticing her discomfort, before taking hold of her hand and steering her away from the scene of the crime.

"Wait!"

* * *

Everyone was speechless- besides Smoker who was just being his normal, grumpy self, and Emily, who was trying very hard not to burst out laughing. The marines had arrived before the marine base only to find its surroundings completely demolished. Countless walls were destroyed, unconscious marines were piled up here and there, swords that had nothing to do with any of the damage that had been done were strewn across the ground at dangerous angles, and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses lay innocently before it all.

After a few moments of ogling, the soldiers spread out to inspect the conditions of their fellow marines. Captain Smoker silently tucked the thick glasses into one of his pockets and approached Tashigi, who lay sprawled across the ground, obviously unconscious. He crossed his arms thoughtfully, puffing on his cigars, before shouting:

"Tashigi!"

It sounded rather like a bark. The officer seemed to spring to life at the sudden noise and stumbled to her feet immediately.

"S..Sir!" she stammered, with a hasty salute. Though she couldn't see much without her glasses, that voice was unmistakable; it looked like she had a lot of explaining to do.

Sure enough, the next word that came out of the captain's mouth was: "Explain."

Captain Orbell opened his eyes halfway with a feeling of dread. He hadn't even been able to attack the blue haired woman who was, according to his own deductions, the only potential weak point of the young pirate; no, _Fire Fist_ Ace had proven to be even stronger than he was rumored to be. The marine captain winced at the pain across his chest where a large burn was now visible. He hoped very much that his opponent had left and hadn't noticed that he was still alive.

The feeling of dread increased in the pit of his stomach as he noticed a figure approaching him. Again, he hoped very much that it wasn't _Fire Fist_ Ace- until he finally recognized who it was.

"Hello, _captain_." said a female voice that belonged to a certain lieutenant.

Then he wished that he had been killed by the young pirate.

* * *

A faraway and very high-pitched scream was heard throughout the streets of town. People here and there looked up from whatever they had been doing, thinking that the voice had sounded very much like that of Captain Orbell, but, dismissing the idea as ridiculous, they immediately returned to their daily tasks. Very few realized that this scream signaled the very last day of Orbell's oppressive reign over the island. Everyone else found out about it when the papers talked about Orbell's arrest for tyrannical conduct the following day.

"Again, they didn't mention how it was all thanks to Mr. _Fire Fist_ Ace." Mel commented after skimming through the article on the front page of the newspaper. She sat with a cup of hot tea at the table of the inn they had been in the previous day. Eldon and his family had insisted that they stay at least for the night, which Ace, of course, had heartily agreed to- and Mel hadn't really had a choice in the matter, though she agreed anyway. She did have a few minor injuries to tend to.

The marines had cleared out of the island as soon as they had arrested ex-Captain Orbell, not even bothering to look for the supposed criminals that the former marine kept yelling about. This suited the townspeople very well, and they decided to celebrate with a huge feast that would last for days on end, where all restaurants were serving food for free and alcohol was handed out to most everyone.

Ace and Mel happened to be two of the very few still-sober and awake people that morning. Everyone had gone to bed after a very long night of celebrating, resulting in a very rare occasion in which most of the town was still in bed at 9 am. Mel was probably the only one who hadn't touched the alcohol and gone to bed early, which was why she was the first one to read the headlines. Ace grinned as he sat down next to his prim and proper friend, he himself having spontaneously fallen asleep in the middle of some kind of drinking competition, only to wake up fully rested when the last person had finally gone to bed.

"They _did_ increase our bounties." the young pirate said as he pulled Mel's cup of steaming tea towards him and drank half of its content with one gulp. Mel gave him a rather withering look for doing such a thing before asking him how he knew this. Ace simply nodded towards the back of the newspaper she was holding, and upon turning and inspecting it, the blue haired woman found two warrants with pictures of Ace and herself. She let out a snort.

"Another 5 million beli on me? I didn't even _do_ much." she muttered before reclaiming her cup and taking a sip.

* * *

"You know her, lieutenant?" Tashigi asked incredulously, staring at the older woman with obvious confusion.

"Thank me for not teaching her how to fight with a sword. Who knows what might have happened." Auntie Em replied seriously, though her lips soon curled into a smile once more when the young woman blinked several times.

The sound of some sort of low growl brought them both back to paying attention to their captain. His eyebrows were drawn into his usual frown, but he somehow looked even more irritated than usual. Having two women, one being overly clumsy and the other overly mysterious (and thus even more irritating), wasn't doing much good to his already high strung temper. The room was already filled with a threatening amount of smoke, which was never very comforting in a small cabin.

"Robertson." he started through gritted teeth, shifting his grey eyes towards the smiling woman. "What did you _do_ to Orbell?"

She would have looked genuinely clueless if it hadn't been for that smile that never seemed to fade for long. "What _do_ you mean, sir?"

Tashigi was fidgeting under the atmosphere of the room as two people she very much respected were staring unblinkingly at each other in silence. How the lieutenant was still smiling with the captain's most piercing glare aimed at her, the marine officer could not tell. It only added to the respect she had for the older woman.

"He was reduced to tears as soon as he saw you." replied the marine captain, not that he minded much, after a few more moments of useless glaring.

Emily Robertson let out a short laugh before explaining, "I was put under his command the last time the navy blackmailed me to work for them." she said simply.

* * *

"You know what? We forgot to ask about _Blackbeard_." said Ace after they had gotten a decent, free breakfast, and the town was still asleep. Mel put down the newspaper she had finally read through and gave a simple

"Oh yeah."

Just as they were going to leave to find anyone awake and sober, Eldon entered the inn, his messy dark gray hair making him look like he had just woken up.

"There you are." he panted, having run around town looking for the two. He was afraid that they had left already until he decided to search for them at the inn.

"Good morning, Eldon." Mel greeted him in a singsong voice and a big smile. The boy blushed slightly before hastily wishing them a good morning as well.

"We were just about to leave." Ace stated with a smirk as he noticed the effect his friend had on the boy. He wondered whether she knew about this. They then stood up to head towards the docks with Eldon following them eagerly.

"Oh, have you seen a pirate called _Blackbeard _around here lately?" asked Mel as she eyed her outfit, which had been given to her from one of the tailors, with a satisfied smile. Instead of a jacket, she now wore a striped, button-up shirt with short sleeves over a dark colored top; all this over dark capris and white sandals which she liked very much.

A few bandages here and there adorned her arms and legs, covering a few harmless scratches, but other than that, she had come out of the fight unscathed. Ace, of course, had no signs of a fight across his bare chest and back whatsoever.

Eldon blinked thoughtfully, "You mean a big guy with a black beard and his cronies?" he inquired after a few seconds.

"That's the one." confirmed Ace a bit grimly.

"So you've seen him?" Mel continued brightly.

"No." the boy replied flatly. The blue haired woman stumbled at the sudden and unexpected answer while the pirate just wore a puzzled expression. "I've heard of them, though. Apparently they came here a few days ago just for some food and then left very quickly as if they were being chased."

"Ah." said Mel, having quickly regained her balance.

"We've almost got them, then." Ace uttered unnecessarily. They had arrived by the docks, and Eldon was standing there uncertainly while the other two got ready to leave.

"D…do you think I could become a pirate?" The boy asked suddenly, surprising the other two with this odd question. They stared at him for a while.

"Please don't." Mel replied rather glumly, and before Ace could comment, she added, "Think about it again after a few years." And though there was obvious disappointment in his face, Eldon managed to nod at her proposal. He was only thirteen, after all.

* * *

Tashigi approached the group of marines that was huddled around someone lying on a beach chair on deck. It seemed as though they were all staring at something that the person was holding, and judging by the tense silence, they were waiting for someone to tell them how exactly they were supposed to react. The marine officer made her presence known by voicing a timid "Umm…" behind a particularly bulky marine who was blocking her view.

"Alright, that's enough, disperse!" said a woman's voice, sending everyone shuffling away from the newspaper they had been squinting at. Tashigi blinked at Auntie Em who was motioning for her to come closer and read the headlines. She did so apprehensively, and almost jumped when a shadow suddenly loomed over them.

Smoke was billowing around the captain who was staring down at his two subordinates menacingly.

"Just reading the newspaper, captain." the lieutenant stated airily, "Good job covering up who was responsible for Orbell's arrest, by the way." Nobody could ever tell whether Emily Robertson was being sincere or sarcastic, though in this case, it was obvious that she was more than a bit pleased.

Smoker glared at her, knowing exactly what she meant. He hadn't mentioned anything about _Fire Fist_ Ace or his blue haired companion when reporting to the navy about former marine captain Orbell and his crimes. Tashigi very much wanted to ask why, but knowing that he would not give her a straight answer, she decided to keep her mouth shut. Her lieutenant, however, was never one to keep a question to herself.

"So why didn't you report them, _sir_?" she asked bluntly, folding up the newspaper neatly and placing it on her lap. The captain simply puffed on his cigars silently. He wondered whether he should answer or not, but when her smile told him that she was going to find out one way or another, he knew it really didn't matter.

"If they are able to get rid of _Blackbeard_…" he muttered thoughtfully, knowing that the lieutenant would be able to easily figure out his reasoning now. She did so in a matter of seconds.

"Ah, arrest them after they've taken care of some other criminals? That's clever." Auntie Em stated, leaving Tashigi wondering what on earth they were talking about.

"Still, you see," the lieutenant continued with her usual smile, "this matter might be more complicated than you think, captain."

* * *

The night was clear and calm as the waves carried the boat along peacefully. Mel had woken up at a particularly loud snore from her companion, and was now finding it hard to go back to sleep with the moon shining so brightly on the water. She turned around to study the young pirate who was leaning against the mast, apparently sleeping. She could never tell whether he was really asleep or not, because some instances had suggested that he was just pretending at times.

Once she had tried to steal his hat out of pure boredom and had found herself in a very awkward position when he had pulled her into a hug 'in his sleep', which had been his excuse later, but that sheepish grin of his had never really convinced her.

The blue haired woman deduced once again that it was very easy for her to simply push him into the water, and that would be the end of it. Did he really trust her this much? This would be her last chance, now that they were about to get to the island that _Blackbeard_ was on.

She turned back to her original position, leaning against the other side of the mast, and sighed. There was simply too much to think about. Finally, she uttered,

"I give up."

But somehow, it didn't make her feel bad at all.

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments:** And the plot thickens! Yes, we are drawing very near the end of this story, and the next chapter might very well be the last. I must warn you that Chapter 15 will definitely include some spoilers from the newest chapters of One Piece. I am going to wait until some more chapters of the actual manga are 'released' in the internet, so I can get some more solid data.

I apologize for the lateness and length of this chapter- I have been very busy and/or lazy, and the only reason I decided to finish this chapter was… uh… I don't know, actually. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wrote most of it today.

Thank you once again for the overwhelming amount of positive reviews:

EternallyJinxed: Poor Orbell got defeated very quickly because I had to get on with the story. I'm glad you appreciated the frequent scene changes of the last chapter- some people were confused about that… ah well.

WingedSerpent: I've wanted to reply to your review ever since I got it. That poor, broken hearted college student… that must have been hilarious. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

God'sAngel: More fluff. Don't worry, even if the next chapter will be the last (which I'm really not sure of), there's always the Epilogue I've been planning since the beginning. That will certainly have even more fluff.

firefistACE888888 : Thanks for looking at my pictures. I hope you liked this chapter!

Lainana: I agree, I would never be able to learn sword fighting either. Neither would Mel, apparently.

TrunksgirlBlaze27: I am soo sorry for taking up to two months to update! I really didn't intend for this chapter to go so slowly, but somehow it did. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Angelic Sorceress: Well, this one took even longer. Hope you liked it.

Unknown Fan: Haha. Thanks.

Lunar D. Hayase: I hope to draw some stuff with these two soon but I really have no ideas whatsoever. Thank you for reading.

acelover 3: Nah, Auntie Em's just weird. Technically, Mel really wasn't thrown through a wall because there was no longer one after Ace made a hole in it, but hey.

lil1diva: Whatever you are referring to with that question (I'm too lazy to go back and look right now) - the world of One Piece is a wonderful place where communication is so much faster than here, and they always have those super awesome snail phones. I hope that answers your question.

madlibs44: Hahaha, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Fiery-Wolf-Angel: Yes, cockroaches have got to be the embodiment of evil itself. Turns out that Orbell was a big baby.

Nightswift: Yay, new supporter! I'm glad you like it.

Artemis die Jaegerin: Na, hat zwar wieder ein paar Monate gedauert, aber hier ist das nächste Kapitel. Ich hoffe es ist okay, obwohl es ein wenig kurz ist.

Inugirl88 : Danke für das Review! Natürlich kannst du auf Deutsch schreiben- ich wusste gar nicht das so viele Deutsche mein fic lesen.

* * *

I really don't know when the next update will happen, but when it does, I promise it'll be good. Please review. Thank you very much. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **Many of you were confused about the last part of Chapter 14, and rightly so. Don't worry, it'll be cleared up soon enough- this is where the plot thickens. Also, many of you have begged me not to end the story with Chapter 15, and since I seriously owe you guys for not updating for nearly FOUR MONTHS, I will put in another arc before the ending. Everyone rejoice!

Welcome to the wonderful world of…FILLER. Mwahahahahahahaaaa!

And I don't own One Piece.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XV**

"Tell me,"

Mel began, as she stood in the middle of a crowded street in a place very similar to Logue town, "why are we here again?"

She was met by silence, and, surprised by this, she turned around to find that Ace was no longer at her side. She blinked. Somewhere above her head, a sign labeled "Lucha Town" hung ominously from its post.

She had woken up that morning with the young pirate telling her that they had reached land. He had explained to her that his Log Pose (which was the commonly used form of navigation used on the Grand Line) had pointed them to this island, and so their chase for _Blackbeard_ was cut short by this unexpected turn of events. They had been able to easily follow their target's path by some sort of dumb luck up until now, the Log Pose choosing to memorize the magnetic field of the correct island every single time.

But dumb luck can only take you so far.

Ace had gone off to inquire about an Eternal Pose (similar to a Log Pose, except that it always leads to a specific location) and had neglected to notice that Mel was still half asleep; which was why she suddenly found herself abandoned in a throng of early noon shoppers minutes later. She did not remember how she got there.

Mel had, in fact, never possessed a Log Pose at all, having traveled so far by smuggling herself on passenger or navy ships. This was the reason for the rope that she carried around in her bag- she was used to climbing up the side of random ships. In fact, up to this point, the young woman had never really cared much about where she was going as long as she got there safely, so she didn't actually recall how she got on the Grand Line in the first place.

In any case, here she was, now fully awake and bored. And for once, our heroine decided to do something completely normal and set out to find a place to satisfy her growling stomach.

* * *

The old government official who had offered Mel a position in the navy sat at his usual desk, pondering over a particular report. Attached to it with a paperclip was a black-and-white photo of a man with a full beard and a grumpy scowl on his face. Years and years ago, the old officer had offered this particular man a job with the government- a most respected and longed-for occupation. 

This man had, however, not only refused the offer, but had insisted on sharing his exact opinion of the world government, which almost led to his execution. Make no mistake, the execution would have indeed happened had the man not been rescued by none other than Robertson Henry. That had been over thirty years ago. Robertson had somehow managed to break his friend out of prison and hide him away ever since.

The government would have been content on ignoring the apparent disappearance of this man if it had not been for _the book_. Years after the prison break, rumors of a book that was the key to the power to control the seas spread all over the globe. It was unmistakable that the book had been written by that man, because his vast knowledge of the Devil Fruit had been the exact reason for the job offer he had received. Now that the Age of Pirates had returned, and the number of Devil Fruit users was increasing at an alarming rate, a book that described and even identified the users became very valuable to the government and the navy in particular.

The author of the book was yet to be found, along with this book of his. He was known as Ralph. And his last name was Diedrick.

* * *

Mel had found a cute little restaurant very close to where she had been standing around. She had ordered a light meal and was now producing some money from her bag to place it beside her teacup as was her custom. This was to ensure that she did not forget to pay in case a bunch of marines decided to rudely interrupt her meal (which had happened quite a lot recently). The young woman set her bag on a bar stool next to hers and continued to wait for her food patiently. 

Suddenly, just as her meal was ready, a loud noise outside the restaurant broke the calm mood of the room. The noise was followed by a hushed silence, in which everyone stopped what they were doing and directed their attention to whatever was causing the commotion outside. Then, with the combined sound of chairs scraping as people got up and the scurrying of feet, more than half of the restaurant was plastered to the glass window that took up most of one of the walls.

The townspeople had either not experienced any commotion for years, or they were naturally inquisitive people. Maybe even both. Whatever the reason was, Mel found it extremely amusing to watch them practically fighting to see what was going on outside.

The commotion turned out to be a fight that someone had started right outside the little restaurant, and whoever was 'accidentally' destroying the nearby carts was ruining the day for a few no-longer-happy salesmen. Mel's mouth fell open as she caught a glimpse of two very burly men in colorful wrestling masks trying to knock each other out with all kinds of odd moves. The people in the restaurant were now cheering them on, safe behind their wall of glass and plywood.

Apparently this was a daily occurrence in Lucha Town, which had derived its name from its battle-ready inhabitants. Wrestling was the main sport on this island, as well as its main attraction. Tourists came from all over the Grand Line to watch the infamous street-wrestling (as it was lovingly named) as well as the seemingly meaningless and random events that would happen at seemingly meaningless and random times.

One would think that the government would discourage such behavior, since there happened to be a navy base on this island as well. However, for whatever reason, the marine captain himself was a world famous wrestler and would, every once in a while, actually participate in the customs of the town. The only ones not very happy about this where the street market salesmen, whose carts suffered the most damage out of this peculiar tradition. But since the loser of the wrestling match was responsible for the damage that had been done during the fight, no one complained.

All this was explained to Mel by a waiter who had spotted her baffled expression and felt obligated to share the town's customs to this obvious outsider. The young woman laughed after his kind summary and soon found herself a part of the crowd, eagerly watching the ongoing match. When she finally returned to her meal after a few minutes, she noticed that there seemed to be something amiss. Something, _something_ was definitely wrong, but what it was, the young woman couldn't grasp. She sat there for a few moments, thinking furiously, but when nothing clicked in her head, she gave up and went back to eating her food.

* * *

Ace had been asking around for _any_one who might possibly know where to find an Eternal Pose, but to no avail. The townspeople were either glaringly ignorant about what an Eternal Pose _was,_ or the only place where one might possibly find one was in the navy base. Perfect. Now all he had to do was sneak into a heavily guarded building, find a small object that could be in any of the sixty-or-so rooms in said building, and get out without any trouble. Yup. 

That last part might prove to be a bit difficult.

The young pirate was contemplating on this when a man rudely bumped into his arm, and without so much as a mumbled apology, stumbled away at an alarming speed. Ace was about to say something when he noticed that the man wore an unmistakable _wrestling _mask, a red one at that, and was holding what looked like an overstuffed duffel bag. Before anything more could be observed about him, the man turned into a side street, and out of sight. And before anything could be done about the situation, Ace was distracted by a fight that suddenly broke out behind him, followed by a crowd of people forming a circle around the scene.

He raised an eyebrow. Was it just him or were these people stranger than he was?

"Have you noticed that these people are stranger than we are?"

So it wasn't just him.

Startled, Ace looked around to find Mel standing next to him, part of the crowd that had gathered to watch the sudden match. She seemed to be cheering for the man with the iguana printed on his wrestling mask. The young pirate was about to reply to her comment she had made a moment ago when he noticed something odd.

"Mel?"

The blue haired woman turned to face him, the excitement of the wrestling match glinting in her eyes, "Yeah?"

"Where's your bag?"

* * *

The old officer jerked up from his nap when the doors to his office were slammed open, revealing a panting marine. 

"Sir! Diedrick T. Mel has been sighted in Lucha Town!" the marine blurted out between gasps. The old man was not impressed.

"_And_?" he drawled, absentmindedly unfolding a map of said location and spreading it on his desk. The island had no other name besides that of its town which basically took up most of its surface. The island was comparatively small, for an island, and the only other significant feature on it was a small, inactive volcano which nevertheless added to the scenery.

The marine drew a deep breath before adding, "And someone claims to have her bag!" The government official looked up abruptly, ignoring the pain in his aged neck.

"Tell them to keep it secure until I arrive," he growled, getting up from his chair and glaring at the marine, "and get a ship ready, NOW!"

* * *

A huge theatrical gasp escaped her lips. 

"Where _IS_ my bag?" she echoed her friend as the color seemed to drain out of her face. Mel finally realized what it was that had seemed strange to her back in the little restaurant. How could she not realize the absence of her beloved bag? She blamed it on the three or so wrestling matches that had distracted her from thinking on her way to find Ace.

"The navy _did_ put a bounty on your possessions," Ace pointed out unnecessarily. "And I _did_ see a man in a red wrestling mask running away with a bag that looked suspiciously like yours."

Mel gaped at him. Her eye twitched. An indignant huff was followed by a deep intake of breath and

"How _DARE_ he!"

* * *

Auntie Em was scrutinizing a new warrant that had just been handed out to all marine troops. It was, of course, that of her beloved 'niece' who had unthinkingly given her full name to the government and had thus become even more _wanted_. 

The fact that millions of beli were also put on her possessions confused the navy lieutenant, which was why she was reading the warrant over and over again. Only after a while did she notice that she was in the presence of her captain who had been glaring at her for the longest time, presumably waiting to be answered a question.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Lieutenant Robertson asked airily after finally taking her eyes off of the paper in her hands and directing her attention towards the white haired man. He breathed steadily through his cigars without taking his glare off of the unnerving woman in front of his desk.

"You barged in here _eight_ minutes ago, _lieutenant_." Smoker growled through gritted teeth, stressing the last word as if to remind himself that this was, in fact, her rank. He still did not want to believe it.

"Oh that's right!" Auntie Em replied in an awfully cheery manner which made her captain's eye twitch. She had indeed barged into Captain Smoker's office only to notice the new warrant lying on his desk and snatch it away from him to inspect. She had been extremely bored and had decided, as a last resort, to annoy her captain, but now that she actually had a question to ask, that minor detail of her visit did not need to be clarified.

"Has the government clarified as to _why_ they want her possessions as well?" the lieutenant asked, suddenly a bit more serious, and replacing the warrant neatly on Smoker's desk for him to see.

He eyed her warily before answering, "Whoever gets their hands on her bag is to secure it until further notice."

The lieutenant sank down on a chair facing his desk and gave a thoughtful "Hmm."

It was very unlike her to come up with such a short response, and so Smoker waited for more. Sure enough, a moment later she continued,

"They're assuming that she has _the book._"

The marine captain would have gladly ignored her if she hadn't informed him about which _book_ she was referring to a few days ago. Back then he had concluded that, in telling him the whereabouts of this book she was certainly up to something. Lieutenant Robertson apparently didn't care whether he was paying attention.

"Now that she has told them her full name, they would have found out that she is the granddaughter of Mr. Diedrick who wrote the book. But since they think that he's dead, they would naturally conclude that Mel has it," she rambled, as if talking to the desk rather than her captain. She added that Mel's parents, both merchants, had been missing for two year now, and were therefore thought to be dead as well.

The short moment of silence that followed was broken by Tashigi who hurriedly entered the room.

"Captain! I can't find Lieuten-" she broke off her sentence at the sight of the lieutenant waving at her. Tashigi blinked for a few seconds before continuing,

"Lieutenant, we received report that someone has handed over Diedrick T. Mel's bag in Lucha Town!"

* * *

"Wait for it, wait for it!" Mel mumbled as they stood, hiding behind a corner facing the marine base. It was, of course, heavily guarded with marines, and there was no way they were going to get anywhere near the gates unnoticed. 

"Wait for w-" Ace had been about to ask her what she was mumbling about when, with unbelievably perfect timing, a masked and incredibly tall man appeared on the scene. And with a loud roar, a man who was about as wide as the other was big, wearing a blue mask, tackled the first man, instantly starting another wrestling match right in front of the marine base.

"Don't tell me that was a coincidence." The pirate muttered as they watched every single one of the marine soldiers within range forming a crowd and cheering for the wrestlers. This was such a ridiculously flawless diversion that Mel actually took the liberty to walk right past the throng of people, through the gates, and into the marine base without so much as hurrying. Ace followed her after a second of bewilderment which was soon replaced by his trademark smirk.

But entering the marine base posed another problem for the two. Upon opening the doors to its main lobby, they found that the building proved to be even larger than expected, with its walls covered with portraits of wrestlers.

"I'll go look for an Eternal Pose," said Ace, his voice echoing in the huge, empty room.

"And I'll get my bag," Mel replied determinately, trying to decide which way to go. When Ace left her with a salute and entered the left side of the building, she figured that she ought to turn right.

* * *

Mel skidded to a halt as she heard hurried footsteps around the corner of the corridor. She could hear men's voices as she frantically searched for a place to hide. 

"I tell you! I saw it from the window: it's _Jirafa_ against _El Azul_ !"

"No way! I thought those two never went against each other in public!" they were saying, eager to get to the wrestling match as soon as possible, and therefore failing to notice Mel who was pretending to be in a headlock of one of the wax figures (wrestlers, of course) that lined the hallway. She let out a sigh of relief as the small group of marines disappeared.

It looked as though it wouldn't be much of a problem to rescue her bag with most of the marines outside, if she could just find it. Mel had checked at least fourteen rooms by now, and had found all of them to be empty offices or even wrestling rings. The next room she entered, however, was different.

It contained all kinds of instruments- from telescopes to sundials, including, of course, Log Poses. Her eyes lit up at the thought of finding an Eternal Pose that pointed to wherever _Blackbeard_ was now rumored to be and proceeded to make her way through the rows and rows of instruments.

She could differentiate the Eternal from the Log Poses because the latter had needles that continuously quivered. The Eternal Poses, however, had needles that stood perfectly still, pointing determinately towards a certain direction.

The fact that the Eternal Poses sat on a shelf that was labeled _Eternal Poses_ helped, too.

Mel now stood at a point of making a difficult decision. Especially because her parents were merchants who believed firmly in fair trade, she had been taught all her life that stealing was extremely rude and improper. And being the perfectly respectable person that she was, Mel would never even think about doing anything remotely improper.

She waited for a while, thinking, until an idea struck her and she smirked. Taking an Eternal Pose from its shelf and strapping it to her wrist, she placed something from her pocket on the now empty spot instead. The man who had given it to her a while ago on the street had certainly said it was valuable, and had offered it to her for 'being such a pretty lady'.

And without further ado, she rushed out the door to search for her bag once more.

* * *

Ace was almost insulted to see that the ninth or so room he entered contained Mel's bag, unguarded and unhidden. It was almost too easy to retrieve it, and the only thing they needed to worry about now was getting out of the marine base unnoticed. But first he had to find Mel, and so he made his way back to the main lobby. 

He came to a corridor which was lined with at least thirty life-sized wax figures. They were all, of course, wrestlers of all kinds of shapes and sizes, some even female. All of them wore those odd masks that could make anyone look ridiculous and intimidating at the same time. He was inspecting the intricate detail on the figure nearest to him when someone tackled him from behind with an unmistakable _squeal_.

"You found my bag!" Mel said, hugging her friend happily before grabbing her bag and squeezing it gleefully. Ace grinned at her behavior, noticing what was strapped to her wrist.

"And you found the Eternal Pose, I see," he replied as they made their way to the exit. They didn't, for some reason, expect to find any marines back from watching the commotion outside, and were unpleasantly surprised when they stepped outside.

Of course, it couldn't have been this easy.

* * *

A marine opened the door to the storage room. His name was Thomas, but who knew how many of those were in the navy. He was sent here to fetch a map from all the clutter that filled up the room. It contained everything and anything that might have to do with navigation, and so naturally, maps would go here. 

He wouldn't have noticed anything odd if it hadn't been for the fact that the maps were stored next to all kinds of Poses, Log and Eternal alike. He paused on his way to the maps as his eyes locked onto a very strange object amidst a few Eternal Poses.

Standing there, arms up, was an action figure of the marine captain in his wrestling mask, complete with a little cape.

Thomas gaped at it.

"…Huh?"

_-t__o be continued-_

* * *

**Comments**: First of all, let me apologize for taking such a ridiculously long amount of time to update! I finished this chapter today (and started it yesterday…) after receiving countless pleas that begged me to continue. Sorry, guys. Please don't hurt me. 

This chapter is, as you have read, sort of a filler. And since I'm not done with it, the next chapter will continue this arc. Rejoice! Looks like I won't be getting to the ending just yet.

_Lucha_ Town. Haha, I'm so creative.

Who knew that I would include wrestling in my story? I certainly didn't.

Thank **EternallyJinxed** for providing the setting of this story by giving me random words. I used her words: Man-in-mask (hence the wrestlers), volcano (lol), (not-so)happy salesmen, blue (_El Azul_), plywood, and Thomas! Thank her by reading (and reviewing) her stories! If you enjoy my writing, you will enjoy hers even more, I guarantee.

**Carpe.Deum **also gave me a few random words to use! I used giraffe (_Jirafa_) and iguana. The word plushie made me think of the whole action figure thing, so thank you!

If you'd like to help me with inspiration issues (because I always get stuck at very random times), you can always send me a bunch of random words- as you can see, they really help.

And because I got 21 reviews and think that you'd rather just get the update NOW and be done with it, I will not reply to everyone's reviews here. Don't worry, I'll reply to them individually as soon as I get this chapter up!

**Thank you so much**, my dear readers, for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Don't forget to review!


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **Guess what, guys? We've hit 200 reviews! How can this be? It seems like only yesterday that we got over the big _one hundred_. Thank you all for your ongoing support- without you this story would have been done with a long time ago. I honestly appreciate your reviews.

But I still don't own One Piece.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XVI**

'_GASP'_

Well that wasn't what they had expected.

Sure enough, the wrestling match between the two giants was over, but now the marines seemed to have prepared a huge ring of sorts for _round two_. Because of this, the only way out of the marine base was through the gigantic wrestling ring. Mel blinked, but that didn't make the strange scene go away.

"Well this isn't what I expected," she said, scratching the back of her head thoughtfully. Ace decided to keep his mouth shut.

At least forty marines were spread out all over the area, their stares directed towards the pair that had just stumbled into the ring. They all got into a fighting stance, cracking their knuckles and smirking menacingly. A bell signaled the beginning of Round One. A man, who did not look like a marine at all, suddenly appeared in (or sprinted towards) the center of the ring, and holding up his arms, he shouted:

"FIGHT!" he was wearing a bow tie along with a black and white striped shirt. Apparently, he was the referee.

Mel's jaw dropped open for the umpteenth time that day. All of the marines were staring in her direction, some of them shirtless, and some of them balancing on the elastic ropes that bordered the area. And still Ace did not voice his exasperation. Mel turned to him to share her views on their current situation.

He was asleep.

She almost fainted. His lack of narcoleptic attacks had been quite strange, but once again she was reminded that Ace's rare disorder took the most inopportune moments to come into play.

Mel's shoulders sagged in despair, yet she quickly recovered and faced her opponents with a determined look.

* * *

"_Lucha Town_?" 

Auntie Em gave a delighted laugh after she had confirmed the name of the location. Smoker seemed frustrated. Tashigi looked confused.

She had never been to that town herself, which didn't help her to understand the reactions of her lieutenant and captain. She wanted to ask why they were acting the way they were, but Captain Smoker really didn't seem to be in the mood to do any explaining at the moment. So the officer turned her questioning gaze to Lieutenant Robertson instead.

"Oh dear, I love that town," the woman was saying, holding back another fit of laughter for the sanity of her captain. This statement only served to confuse Tashigi even further. Ignoring the poor young woman, Auntie Em turned to Smoker with barely concealed glee.

"_Everard_'s still in charge there, isn't he?" she inquired cheerfully. The death glare she received from the disgruntled captain obviously meant that she was right.

* * *

Her skill in avoiding attacks was one of the few things that Mel was proud of. It had sure helped her out a lot throughout the years. But really, there was only so much you could do when dozens of marines were trying to tackle you from all sides. 

Five minutes into the 'match' and the whole thing had turned into a wild goose chase. As much as Mel had liked watching the wrestling on the streets, she wasn't too keen on trying it herself, which was why she was now running around the huge ring like a frightened chicken.

And just when she had ducked for no reason, sending one of the marines crashing into another, an enormous roar was heard, followed by a girly scream.

The extremely tall wrestler from earlier was holding up two marines by the scruff of their shirts as easily as if he was picking up a couple of tiny puppies. This man was called _Jirafa_ because of his height and his yellow wrestling mask.

Next to him stood the 'wide' wrestler, _El Azul. _He was also holding up a marine, except that he held him up by the front of his uniform, keeping the man's face only inches from his own. The two wrestlers seemed to be very upset about something.

_El Azul_ spoke first: "Did you just…" he paused with an outraged huff, "Did you just try to _attack_ a _lady_?"

He had a peculiar accent in which he put a lot of emphasis on his R's. The marine he was holding was turning very pale. But before he had a chance to explain, the outraged wrestler continued.

"I don't know where you are from, but in _our _town, we _respect_ our lovely señoritas!" he snarled before throwing the poor marine out of the ring. _Jirafa _mimicked him by dumping his burden on top of a few other marines.

* * *

"Oh Tashigi, you have to have _been_ there to really understand!" Emily Robertson said after having explained the odd traditions of Lucha Town. The street wrestling, the _fiestas_, the seemingly random events- all these were everyday occurrences there. 

Tashigi was getting really nervous; she seemed to be the only one noticing the vein that was popping visibly out of the captain's forehead. It seemed to be growing at every word the lieutenant spoke.

"It would be the last place that Mel would get arrested in," Auntie Em stated with a smirk. And with that, she and the poor officer were thrown out of the office by a thick cloud of smoke that shut the door behind them violently.

* * *

"I mean, can you _believe_ that they stole my bag and made me come all the way here to get it back?" Mel said, fanning herself with her hand indignantly, as she addressed the two giant wrestlers who were listening to her in awe. They were in awe because they were so outraged at what she was telling them. 

"And now, of course, they're trying to attack me, too. How _rude_ can you _get_?" the young woman added, crossing her arms resolutely before emitting an offended 'hmph'. _Jirafa_ and _El Azul_ agreed with her of course, and proceeded to convey their resentment by wrestling the rest of the marines to sad piles of, well, sad marines.

Only about a dozen marines were still standing when the doors to the marine base burst open for the second time that afternoon. Out came another very large man, though this one was wearing a very colorful wrestling mask and costume to match. Mel squinted at the far off figure thoughtfully. He seemed very familiar somehow- where had she seen him before?

The still conscious marines gasped.

* * *

"He is _so_ touchy sometimes." Auntie Em mumbled, adjusting the blindingly white 'coat of justice' on her shoulders and raising an amused eyebrow at the door. Officer Tashigi was fidgeting next to her, worrying about having upset her captain. Then she recalled what her lieutenant had said to cause the captain's outburst. Why would Lucha Town be the last place for that woman to get arrested? 

"What did you mean by what you said earlier, lieutenant?" Tashigi asked apprehensively, following the older woman away from the office. It was hard to keep up with her long strides. The lieutenant smiled mischievously at her subordinate.

* * *

"Captain!" 

Ah, so that's why. This guy looked exactly like that action figure she had left in the storage room.

The marine captain took in the scene with what seemed like silent rage. The soldiers trembled.

"WHAT is the meaning of this?" the colorful wrestler roared. Mel was utterly amazed to see that Ace was still sleeping just where she had left him. That roar had been loud enough to reach the other end of the island, but apparently narcolepsy was a very stubborn thing.

"Captain, we can explain-!" a marine started hurriedly, running up to the large man. A single glare left the poor marine cowering in a corner as the captain stepped into the huge ring. This was probably a very good time to run, but Mel found herself rooted to the spot. Besides, she still had two very skilled wrestlers on her side, right? Even though they seemed to look a bit frail compared to that marine captain…

Said captain had just caught sight of the blue haired woman standing awkwardly between _Jirafa_ and _El Azul_. Mel cringed, clutching her bag protectively as the large man suddenly came stomping towards them. The ground seemed to shake with every step.

"Away with you!" the captain said suddenly, waving at the two wrestlers in an annoyed manner. They hesitated, shooting apologetic glances at the young woman.

"Everard, this-" _El Azul_ spoke, gesturing towards the marines around them. 'Everard' looked down at the wide but short man. His vibrantly colored mask concealed his expression.

"She-" _Jirafa_ started, evidently not knowing what to say, really. He eyed the blue haired woman rather helplessly. Mel had no idea what was going on. It was like the three wrestlers were conversing through silence. They seemed to know each other fairly well. Then the marine captain finally turned towards her. He stared.

Mel stared right back, smiling awkwardly. Maybe, if she was polite enough, he would let her go?

'Apparently not,' she thought as the large man suddenly grabbed her (comparatively) small and dainty hands. She was going to be thrown into prison, she just knew it. But then he said the last thing she had expected:

"Where have you _been_ all my life?"

Worst pick up line _ever_.

* * *

Emily Robertson smirked as she recalled her first encounter with the marine captain of Lucha Town. She had found out quite a lot about him that time. Apparently he loved to talk about himself. 

"Let's just say that Everard has a definite weakness for blue eyed ladies," the lieutenant said, winking at a confused Tashigi. This was actually a very well known fact among the higher-ranked marines. Especially among those who loved gossip, like Auntie Em.

"Yes but…" Tashigi started, having never heard of this fact before, "Just because of that-" she paused. Surely this marine captain wouldn't disobey direct orders from the government? The older woman laughed.

"Oh, trust me. It's _that_ bad,"

* * *

A delighted gasp escaped the rather large lips of the masked captain. 

"Your eyes! They are like the wide open sea-" On and on he went, pulling her closer with every sentence so that they were now almost nose to nose. Needless to say, Mel was absolutely horrified.

Why oh why did she have to inherit her mother's blue eyes? Surely, if she had gotten her father's dark eye color, there wouldn't be so many clichéd descriptions of them. The only thing that was keeping the poor girl from running far, far away was the fact that the love struck captain was still resolutely holding onto her hands. If he didn't stop swooning over her eyes, she was sure that water would start pouring out of the 'wide open sea' very soon. It was rather painful to listen to him.

Of course _Jirafa_ and _El Azul_ had seen this coming. They smiled sheepishly as Mel turned to them for help. Apparently they didn't know what to do either.

"I… uh…" She tried to say something, _anything_, to stop his words of admiration. And having his large face so close to hers wasn't very delightful either. As flattered as she was by this sudden attention- it was just too overwhelming. She could feel a few sweat drops running down the back of her head. The marine captain was just telling her something about stars twinkling in her eyes when-

"As much as I agree with you, I'll have to ask you to let go of her." Ace smirked, having appeared out of nowhere to stand next to the blue haired woman.

"Yes, _please_, mister marine-" Mel hurriedly said through gritted teeth, not noticing what the young pirate had just admitted. Why was he smirking? There was nothing even remotely funny about this. 'Mister Marine' interrupted her plea.

"Please, my dear, call me Everard!"

"Umm… okay," she replied uneasily. He still wasn't letting her go. Instead he turned towards the young pirate, squinting at him through his mask.

"And who are _you_ supposed to be?" He was not very well informed when it came to infamous pirates, apparently. A brave marine answered the question for him:

"It's Firefist Ace!" This information didn't seem to awaken any memories in the colorful wrestler, except for the fact that this person was a pirate.

"A pirate!" the marine captain shouted indignantly, pulling Mel away from the young man with one tug, "Here to kidnap this beautiful lady, I'm sure!" Mel would have laughed at that, but as long as her hands were still in bondage she was not going to be amused so easily. Ace's smirk only widened into a wicked grin.

"No, no, you see, it's the other way around," the young pirate explained, becoming more serious all of a sudden, "I'm here to _rescue_ that beautiful lady." Said lady blushed involuntarily. It was the temperature that caused this, of course. Or at least that's what she thought.

* * *

"Robertson!" The door to Auntie Em's own little office burst open, revealing an annoyed marine captain. Tashigi had just left. 

"Captain!" the lieutenant yelled back in the exact same tone and volume, looking up at him from a pile of papers. She smiled innocently as Smoker scowled at her. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands, which he now shoved at her face while leaning over the cluttered desk.

"What is this?" Smoker inquired coolly as she leaned back to read what was written on it. The black haired woman raised an eyebrow at him.

"Surely you can read, captain?" she asked nonchalantly, earning herself another scowl. Why was it that whenever she used that title on him, it sounded like an insult? The marine captain glared down at her, dropping the piece of paper on her desk. It was an order form.

"Why would you order a whole _box_ of sea stone?" He continued while puffing on his cigars. The lieutenant looked up at him thoughtfully.

"To experiment on it, of course," she said matter-of-factly, gazing at him steadily.

They stared at each other for a while. She then opened a drawer to pull out a large envelope, and from it a packet of important looking papers. A stamp on the front page showed that it was an official document from the government. She placed the packet on her desk, close to Smoker. He picked it up and flipped through a few pages before gazing back at the woman in front of him. She was looking serious- a rare moment indeed.

"And you agreed to this- why?" he questioned, studying her expression carefully. The document in his hands happened to be a project that the government had apparently assigned to the lieutenant: developing new weapons that consisted of sea stone. Said lieutenant smiled up at her captain.

"Well, I _am_ a blacksmith, after all."

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments: **Yes, yes, I know. It's a lot shorter than usual. But I thought you might like to read it anyway, am I right? Sorry for taking so long again. I was… enjoying my summer break. Ha. 

I really like the name _Everard_.

I must say, I never saw that little sub-plot coming (the one I just ended the chapter with). Guess what? It looks like my story is getting longer and longer.

Oh I just love implied fluff.

Thank you very, very much for your awesome reviews:

**Lainana,**** Fluffywhitekitsune, ****Angelic Sorceress****, dancinglemur **(Of course I read her stories! That's where I stole Thomas from)**, firefistACE888****, Why.Is.The.Sun.Blue, ****TrunksgirlBlaze27****, zenbon zakura** (nope, he's still narcoleptic), **Carpe.Deum****, night-walker98, ****General-Tang** (hope you liked this chapter too!)**, laura, ****nekosaru****, Lunar D. Hayase, ****flarey phoenix****, God'sAngel** (how'd you like the fluff?)**, VixentheHelraizer, ****WingedSerpent** (Ooh, never thought of that. Jesus Burgess probably IS from this town!), **Wolves1990, ****hallow santuary** (thank you!), **lil1diva, ****Kiari1112**and** Oni Giri Slash !**

You guys are spiffy! And as you know, without you, this story would not have been possible. Thank you so much. I look forward to reading your reviews for this chapter. Hehe.

Go check out some of my art in my profile! I actually drew some scenes here and there. Leave a comment while you're at it.

Don't forget to review!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:**Even after five months, I still don't own One Piece.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XVII**

"Hmph!"

Evidently, Everard wasn't particularly pleased about the fact that, 1) a pirate had punched him in the face, and 2)_ his_ blue-eyed beauty was no longer in sight. Said pirate must have done something dreadful to her. This thought was all that motivated the marine captain to get up (having landed on a rather sad pile of his subordinates) and face the notorious Firefist Ace (who happened to be, quite literally, on fire). If possible, Everard looked even more frighteningly ridiculous as he scowled in his colorful wrestling mask.

"Really, I _do_ expect more from a marine captain," Ace was saying with that particular smirk of his, just as the large man he was addressing got up. He received some sort of growl as a reply.

"Really, I _do_ expect more from you two!" Mel hissed, well hidden behind the elevated stage-area (otherwise known as the huge wrestling ring of doom). Of course, she was referring to _El Azul_ and _Jirafa_ whom she had found hiding as well. The two wrestlers gave each other helpless looks. Their situation was a bit humiliating, after all, and Mel felt the necessity to rub it in.

"Hiding when someone far smaller than you is fighting that huge captain! Shame on you both," she muttered, not that she had anything but complete faith in Ace's abilities- it was just terribly entertaining to see these two supposedly manly wrestlers cowering under her glare.

* * *

"Oh, Lieutenant Robertson!" Tashigi almost ran into said black haired woman who gave her a questioning look. Emily had been on her way to Smoker's office when the petty officer appeared from around the corner. 

"Yes, dearie?" the lieutenant asked warmly, knowing very well that she had to be the only marine who referred to her subordinates as such. Tashigi was used to it by now.

"The captain wants you in his office as soon as possible," was the answer, and Emily did not suppress the smirk that had been tugging at her lips.

"I was just on my way," she told the officer brightly before resuming to walk in said direction. Tashigi stood there, staring at the other woman's back until she was out of sight, and wondering what on earth was going on. Judging by the lieutenant's rather wicked smirk, Captain Smoker was not going to be in a good mood any time soon. Not that he ever was, really.

* * *

A series of very loud crashes and general destruction of the wrestling ring was a pretty accurate summary of the battle between Captain Everard and Firefist Ace. Most of the marines (the ones who had any sense) had already raised the alarm (not that there _were_ any backup troops to call for) and were all either taking refuge within the building itself, or scattering out into Lucha Town- which proved to be quite difficult, seeing that most of the town seemed to be very interested in the ongoing battle. 

The people of Lucha Town hadn't seen the captain in action for months; he only happened to join in the general festivities on special occasions. Captain Everard was, of course, somewhat of an idol to the people, which would explain the existence of the action figure that Mel had received earlier (and traded for an Eternal Pose).

The Navy base on the island was currently surrounded by a very large crowd (possibly more than half of the populace was present) divided between those who cheered for the captain, and those who actually knew about pirates and decided to place their bets on Ace. This day would later be dedicated to all foreigners who wished to challenge the strongest of all the wrestlers native to Lucha Town.

"We might as well join them instead of hiding here," Mel suggested to her wrestler friends who looked down at her in admiration. They were ashamed that a lady had to urge them to aid in a fight with clearly unfair odds. They knew they had to stop the captain from destroying that poor little pirate fellow, whether he was on fire or not. _El Azul_ was about to voice his high opinion of her when she raised an eyebrow at them and gestured towards the crowd that had gathered on the other side of the ring.

"I meant _them_, not the fight."

* * *

"You called, captain?" Emily said smoothly, not bothering to knock before entering the very stuffy office. A layer of smoke was already covering the ceiling. Smoker shot her a skeptical look; he was honestly surprised that she had arrived so quickly, seeing that he had only sent Tashigi to fetch her a couple of minutes ago. Then again, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that he was surprised. 

"You know why you're here," was his response, accompanied by a glare and puffs of smoke. As he expected, she did not get straight to the point.

"I can think of _several_ possibilities, actually," the lieutenant said, looking up at the smoky ceiling, apparently deep in thought. Oh how she loved to taunt her captain.

"You're attempting to blackmail me," he told her through gritted teeth, though keeping up an otherwise calm façade. Emily blinked at him, surprise evident in her expression before it merged into a sly smile.

"My, that's quite an accusation, sir."

* * *

Words had no place in wrestling, or in this case, downright fighting, which was why Captain Everard resorted to communicate his determination to beat the pirate through roars and growls only. Of course, a lot of the sounds were drowned out by the frequent crashes and the crackling flames that, by now, were somehow spreading across the ring. Soon enough, what remained of the thick ropes bordering the wrestling ring caught on fire- a big favor to the crowds, who were getting very excited. It later became quite popular for a wrestling match to be held in a ring of fire. 

Mel,_Jirafa_, and _El Azul_ were now among the spectators, the two wrestlers having been (_almost_ literally) dragged there by the blue haired woman. She had agreed that the fight was unfair, but since Ace had the advantage, she saw no particular reason to interfere. The two rather large men (who were receiving many complaints for blocking the view) still found her admirable in that she refused to interfere in a man's honorable fight (which was anything but close to the truth)- they still thought that Captain Everard was the one who held the advantage.

"I assure you, Ace will defeat that man anytime now," Mel told them after they had had quite an argument about why the fight was unfair.

"Your faith in your friend is honorable, señorita," _Jirafa_ replied, having glared down whoever had been complaining about him and _El Azul_ being in the way. Consequently, a large part of the crowd left several feet of space between them and the two wrestlers (and Mel, who stood between them).

"But it is obvious who will be the victor," _El Azul_ added with a somewhat pitying look directed towards the pirate who was fighting one of the greatest wrestlers ever. Mel crossed her arms and snorted. Not a very ladylike thing to do, but it made her point.

"Who're you rooting for, boys?" an old man called from behind them somewhere with a particularly thick accent. The two wrestlers turned towards the elderly citizen of Lucha Town. Almost every eye in the vicinity turned away from the battle to observe Jirafa and El Azul instead.

"Everard, naturally," they said in unison, which caused an earsplitting cheer from a large part of the crowd around them- evidently those who had put their money on the marine captain. Others frowned in disappointment. The sudden and unmistakable noise of a sack of coins caught everyone's attention. Something exploded in the background, where the fight was, of course, still going on.

"Alright then, here's _my_ wager," Mel said, holding up a ridiculously large sack of money, which she had just pulled out of her beloved bag, "A million beli on Firefist Ace!"

Why she had so much money on her was beyond anyone's guess.

* * *

Laughter filled the hazardously smoke-filled office, followed closely by coughing, due to, well, all the smoke. Emily Robertson wiped away the tears of mirth that hung on her eyelashes, letting out another string of laughter, though weaker this time. The chuckles died down as the room became increasingly hard to breathe in. Evidently, Smoker was not very happy. 

"I suppose this means you weren't joking," the lieutenant muttered, only a faint trace of a smirk left on her face, "Really, captain, you're giving me ideas."

"You deny that you only agreed to that project because you knew I would be against it?" Captain Smoker growled, glaring at his subordinate with the most frightening look he could muster. Of course, all the smoke made it very hard to see his expression.

"Certainly," Emily Robertson replied, attempting to fan some of the smoke away from her face, "I don't just work here _annoy_ you, you know."

He raised an eyebrow, and some of the smoke vanished, making it easier for him to observe the woman. She still had that stupid smile on her face. Placing her hands on the captain's desk, Lieutenant Robertson leaned forward so that their faces were now less than a foot apart.

"But yes, I have to admit," she began, with a sigh of mock-defeat, "I _am_ attempting to blackmail you."

* * *

Though a million beli was by far not the largest amount anyone had placed on a wrestling match, the people of Lucha Town could not help but be impressed by this blue haired woman and her large bag of money. There was something odd about her confidence in the notorious pirate. Of course, after her wager had been set, all those who had not yet placed their bets immediately did so, resulting in a rather chaotic scene. 

Even Ace's attention was caught by this, and he found himself wondering what Mel had done _now_. The fact that the crowd might have been excited by some other cause did not even enter his mind. That very short amount of time of daydreaming almost cost him his life as Captain Everard delivered an astoundingly destructive punch, which, fortunately, Ace managed to evade. Why a _wrestler_ was so good at punching was quite a mystery.

The sound of said punch brought back the crowd's attention, and everyone resumed cheering and shouting out very crude suggestions as to what should be done to whomever they were not supporting. Mel actually shouted out something exceedingly violent concerning Everard and a kitchen utensil which impressed quite a few spectators.

Then, suddenly, a marine emerged from the previously tightly shut doors to the building, but nobody actually noticed. It took Thomas (who was, if you recall, the one who found the action figure in the storage room) much more effort than was bargained for to catch anyone's attention. He was just _that_ normal-looking. And boring. Not even a wrestling mask or anything.

In any case, after what seemed like hours (which it might have been, actually) the generic marine managed to find enough of the others (the others being those marines who were part of the crowd) to alert the captain of something. All of these marines then huddled together and came up with the perfect plan!

"Captain Everard!" they all shouted simultaneously, achieving quite an impressive volume. But, alas, the crowd's cheers drowned it out completely. Their not-so-perfect plan having failed, the marines put their heads together once more (the small group, consisting of men of all sizes and colors of wrestling outfits- and Thomas, looked very odd indeed) and finally sent someone back into the building.

"Captain, it has been reported that the pirate Blackbeard and his crew have just sunk four of our navy ships up North!" This message was announced through the speakers that were miraculously still in tact, and placed here and there around the wrestling ring. Thomas had succeeded in his mission.

* * *

The smoke gathered into a thick cloud hovering around the marine captain, who had stood up to tower over the comparatively small woman. Her smile did not falter. 

"Do you think I would have entered your office if there had been even the slightest chance of me being harmed?" the lieutenant said in a quiet but calm tone as she observed the smoke with mild interest.

Smoker snarled in contempt. He knew very well that he could not attack his subordinate or stop her from following orders. Technically, the project with which she was most possibly going to blackmail him was an order from the Government.

"It can't be done," he growled, more to himself than anybody. Sea stone had already been used to create weapons that could _hinder_ a devil fruit user's abilities, but what the government was attempting with this project was several steps beyond any such inventions.

"On the contrary," she said, her smile growing wider at the look on her captain's face, "I believe it can."

* * *

The people of Lucha Town did not care for anyone who called himself Blackbeard. In fact, they really weren't interested in pirates at all. The island was one of the few places in all the Blue Seas on which there was no discrimination against pirates. Captain Everard, of course, was no exception- besides, he was in the middle of a fight- which was why he simply ignored the announcement. The marines sighed. 

Their efforts were not wasted, however, since there were others who were actually interested in news of Blackbeard. Ace had caught Mel's gaze as soon as the name had been announced through the speakers. He grinned, having seen the glint in his friend's eyes. Just then, the marine captain followed the pirates gaze and caught sight of his blue-eyed beauty. Said glint in her eyes made him gasp dramatically.

"Dearest! The fire in your magnificently oceanic eyes melts my heart!"

The 'fire' in her eyes immediately turned into dismay. Though she thankfully hadn't heard him all too clearly over the shouts and complaints of the crowd, _El Azul_ happened to be very good at reading people's lips, and had taken the liberty to repeat what had been said.

"I don't think I've ever seen him _this_ obsessed," _Jirafa_ admitted. Mel was unable to speak, due to nausea.

"What's this? My beauty is distressed!" Everard observed with another dramatic gasp, "You! I will finish you now, pirate!" he added, evidently thinking that Ace (who was having trouble trying not to laugh too hard) was the cause of Mel's 'distress'. The marine captain was a bit dim.

Said pirate smirked and the flames on his fists burned even brighter.

"Yes, let's finish this."

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments**: Quite a few of you have been bugging me for the last few weeks (and months) about updating. I haven't replied to any of those messages because I wanted to reply with a new chapter. Here you go. 

Merry Christmas.

And thanks for all the reviews! Don't forget to tell me what you think about this chapter. Sorry for taking so long.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **(Cue tearful reunion of lazy author and extremely patient readers)

I'M BACK! 2008 (and half of 2009) went by in such a flash… but now I'm back with another chapter, so you'll forgive me, right?

I'm putting an end to italicizing El Azul and Jirafa. It's getting annoying. I may own them, but I don't own One Piece.

* * *

**Friend and Foe**

**Chapter XVIII**

"…Who won?"

Someone dared to break the silence that had fallen onto the scene after a particularly loud explosion that was sure to have decided the battle. The idiot who spoke up too early was immediately silenced by a few dozen death glares and one well-aimed shoe.

The crowd waited with wide open eyes for all the smoke to clear up. It was taking a lot longer than expected, and some were starting to turn blue from holding their breaths too long. There were a few muffled coughs.

"Is Smoker here or something?" Mel mumbled, attempting to remedy the situation by fanning the thick air around her.

"A smoker?" Jirafa responded, obviously unfamiliar with the person she was referring to. He was also waving around his hand, except that it was a lot bigger than Mel's and thus actually helpful. Some of the smoke around them cleared up.

"The lady is joking, my clueless friend," El Azul pointed out rather smugly, though he also failed to understand her reference.

Mel couldn't see the point of explaining herself, so she didn't. Her joke was already ruined anyway.

Even as the spectators began to grumble amongst themselves the smoke finally thinned, though the excitement from earlier had already died down a bit. Not that that was enough reason to keep the citizens of Lucha Town from witnessing the final victor of this epic battle. Steaming tea kettles and burning stoves had long been forgotten.

The wrestling ring was now practically shapeless- blackened here and there with flames still crackling in some areas and a monstrous crater in the center. The marines were the only ones who groaned at this sight- they were, after all, responsible for cleaning up this mess later. Everyone else was busy communicating their awe by going through every single sound that qualified as an exclamation of surprise, wonder, approval, and the like.

"Oh my," was what Mel had to say after a low whistle. She thought it was impressive that the navy base itself was still completely intact. Only the courtyard was destroyed beyond measure. The two who were responsible for the mess were standing on either ends of the crater.

"So who won?" the guy from earlier asked once more. This time he was ignored as the spectators watched the two figures intently. Smoke was trailing up from both of them.

"Could it be… a tie?" Jirafa suggested, sounding downright impressed. He honestly hadn't expected that pirate to even stand a chance against the star of Lucha Town.

"Ties are for sissies," Mel uttered grimly with her arms crossed. She obviously didn't know that Jirafa and El Azul tied all the time. The two wrestlers glanced at each other in shameful silence.

_THUD_.

The spectators simultaneously stopped breathing for a few (more) moments as they stared at the source of the noise. Captain Everard was on his back. And his back was on the ground. If he could get up within the time limit, the fight would be far from over. Nobody dared to make a sound.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, the referee reappeared. He was in fact, second-in-command at the Lucha Town marine base, but nobody really cared. Captain Everard was basically the only person worth knowing where the marines were concerned.

In any case, Mr. Referee (nobody bothered to find out his real name) was now receiving more attention than ever before- he savored the moment as long as he could, clearing his throat when it looked like the townspeople were ready to throw pointy things at him. He then began the countdown.

* * *

Senior officer Wilfred Gray grumbled in his black leather armchair. He got his own little cabin, of course, but that didn't seem to soothe his seasickness, which was having a rather violent tantrum somewhere near his kidneys.

It had never been like this in the old days, of course. Back then, _he_ had been the one barking orders and making people seasick, until, quite a few years ago now, his insides had spontaneously decided to retire and had learned to dance with the waves. He had avoided any type of vessel ever since.

People made jokes about him these days, but he pretended that they didn't. Then again, it was tough not be made fun of when what was left of your hair was white and your surname was Gray.

He was the unlucky fellow, previously referred to as the old government official, who had faced two generations of the Diedricks and "let them go just like that", according to a particularly nasty report- the marine who had written it had wisely remained anonymous.

The way the blue-haired girl had slipped away after declining a job offer from Senior Officer Gray had been a bit embarrassing, but fortunately no one under his command was old enough to remember details of the far more humiliating incident in which the _other_ Diedrick had escaped from a prison cell under his watch.

Not this time, though.

If the girl was on Lucha Town and her bag in the hands of the navy there, he would not rest until he affirmed it with his own eyes.

Even if that meant getting on a very fast ship and feeling his insides tango.

* * *

Captain Everard was still on the ground.

There was a long pause. Then a much shorter one. The puzzled townspeople exchanged looks.

Not a second too soon, Mel pressed her hands against her ears.

The place exploded with sound.

* * *

Tashigi twitched at the very loud sound of a door bursting open somewhere down the hall. She knew exactly which door was being handled so crudely and could imagine why. Some marines who had been patrolling along the same corridor cringed as the aforementioned door was shut with another loud _bang_.

"No need to worry, everyone. I am still alive!" a voice drew their attention. Tashigi blinked at the lieutenant who suddenly stood there, smiling broadly and looking distinctly proud of herself.

None of them had been worrying about her, but it wasn't like anyone was stupid enough to point that out. Smoker's subordinates were actually quite sensible—which was why they immediately excused themselves, leaving Tashigi to fend for herself.

The bespectacled petty officer blinked some more upon suddenly finding herself alone with the older woman.

"Err, lieutenant?" Tashigi spoke up seconds later, suddenly feeling the need to excuse herself as well. "I… eh…" Except that she failed to think of anything she ought to be doing.

It had just occurred to her that the reason behind the sudden departure of the six or seven marines who had been standing nearby might have had something to do with the slamming of that door just moments before.

Captain Smoker kicking the lieutenant out of his office was a common occurrence, but equally common were his ensuing disgruntled stampedes down the hall which would leave anyone in the vicinity gasping for breath and losing all sense of coordination while stuck in a smoky corridor with poor ventilation. Needless to say, such an experience was not exactly popular among Smoker's crew.

Emily stared expectantly at the younger woman who was now fidgeting nervously. Who knew what might have happened if a marine hadn't shown up at that very moment to save them from further awkwardness and inevitable boredom.

"Lieutenant Robertson! Oh hello officer-" the man greeted the two women, "I have a report!"

* * *

Ace did not quite know what to do with himself. But the people of Lucha Town certainly did. He was currently being paraded through the streets amongst lots of cheering and loud music performed by a mariachi band that had appeared out of nowhere.

Little old women watched from their balconies, waving colorful handkerchiefs and throwing confetti into the crowd. Not that it was necessary—the streets were already dotted with so much color that the resulting scene would have made any decent artist flinch.

"As much as I'm enjoying this," the pirate began, turning to the nearest face, which happened to be obscured by a yellow mask, "What _is_ this?"

"It's a fiesta, my dear boy!" the man exclaimed jovially. He was the only one tall enough to talk to him, due to the fact that Ace was being carried on some strange and colorful contraption over the heads of the townspeople.

"Okay," he replied. It hadn't been much of an explanation, but he decided that it was good enough for now. He could smell a lot of food up ahead. Hmm, food. He hadn't had any of that in a while.

"You see, you're the new champion! The greatest luchador! A-" Jirafa stopped when he realized that the young man wasn't listening anymore. _Ruddy pirates and their short attention spans_, he thought to himself.

* * *

"So Senior Officer Gray is on his way to Lucha Island to collect _the bag_ and possibly little Mel, too?" the lieutenant summarized as they walked along the corridor aimlessly.

"Yes, si- ma'am."

Tashigi was following the two because this was the only direction that led far, far away from the disgruntled captain's office. As oblivious as she could be to Smoker's temper, she too did not like the idea of suffocating in a stuffy corridor.

"Who's Senior Officer Gray?" Emily asked blankly.

"Err," said the marine.

"He's a … senior officer?" Tashigi attempted to explain, giving up when she failed to find anything particularly significant about the old man in question. He was old, for one thing, but that wasn't a very polite (or smart) thing to say about one's senior officer.

"I see," the older woman said, apparently satisfied with that rather unhelpful clarification. "Well, I'm not too worried," she added.

"About what?" the marine questioned, a bit dazed in the presence of the eccentric lieutenant.

"Oh, just in general," Emily replied airily. They believed her.

* * *

Meanwhile, the local salespeople were busy creating merchandise on the spot (which they happened to be very good at). _Any_ proper vendor would have taken shameless advantage of the sudden rise in popularity of the color orange. Colorful masks were exchanged for largely orange ones; any and all hats were hurriedly soaked in orange dye to be sold at ridiculous prices, and little action figures of Ace were being created with incredible efficiency.

"I _like_ this place," Mel said after disentangling herself from the colorful crowd. Aside from her bag she was also holding an armful of souvenirs that happy street peddlers had given her for free (for whatever reason). It was mostly colorfully useless stuff, anyway.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Ace told her, grinning lazily as a large table in front of him began to be piled up with all kinds of food.

The majority of the food in Lucha Town was spicy- ranging from _burning furnace _to _blazing sun_, though the issue of which was greater was still being debated. Even the local fruit had a peppery aftertaste, which Mel had discovered after biting into an otherwise normal-looking peach. Still, it was good food.

Though the pirate was technically the center of the party, everyone was so busy eating, dancing, and generally having fun that Ace was left to do whatever he pleased, which, in this case, was eating. His blue-haired friend sat near him, helping herself to some meat-on-a-stick as they watched an impressive dance-off between the townspeople.

"Your winnings, miss," an old man wheezed, having approached the two unnoticed. He held out a considerably large pouch full of coins which Mel took happily.

Ace raised an amused eyebrow.

"You were gambling?" he asked, grinning, "I am _shocked_."

She glanced at him sideways, looking dramatically offended.

"Of course not, see, _gambling_ implies a risk of losing," she explained primly, "I never lose."

* * *

Lucha Town was a bit of a sore spot in navy politics. It was one of those few cases in which the local people, instead of simply disliking or ignoring the marine base (as per usual), had completely taken over and converted most of the marines to their unique form of dress and, well, life. Marines that were deployed there would never be the same when (or more, _if_) they came back.

In the navy, the topic was unanimously avoided- except when it came to unpleasantries. It was a place that officers discreetly hinted at whenever subordinates were being particularly useless, and some captains enjoyed observing the abject horror that was evident in their faces at the words '_transferring_' and '_Lucha Town'_ combined in one sentence.

This was why the marine who shouted "Land, ho!" at the sight of Lucha Town couldn't help sounding rather dismayed. Senior Officer Gray, whose resolve to do something useful for a change had somehow overcome his seasickness, was therefore unpleasantly surprised by the lack of enthusiasm in his subordinates. He himself had evidently never heard of all the dreadful rumors concerning the island they were about to reach.

What could go wrong? All they had to do to renew the respect that Gray had pretty much lost over the years was to find a blue haired woman and her bag. Half of that was already done, since there had been news of the bag being secured at the navy base. Apparently the senior officer had yet to hear about the more recent goings-on in Lucha town.

"Once we arrive, you are to capture _this_ woman," said Senior Officer Gray, holding up an enlarged picture of the blue haired woman in question. "She should be with Firefist Ace, so you can capture him, too."

He was, of course, hugely overestimating his subordinates (he had obviously been cooped up in that office of his for too long), but nobody bothered to point that out. They felt a bit sorry for him, and didn't want to burst his bubble.

* * *

"You know, I think I wouldn't mind living here," Mel said, grinning broadly while stuffing her newly acquired things into her bag. Somehow, there was still enough room in her already overstuffed bag for a pile of money, a pair of maracas, little bags of interesting spices (free samples, apparently), some unidentifiable and painfully colorful whatsits, and an ugly wrestling mask.

A delighted gasp came from behind her. It sent one disgusted shiver down her frozen spine. The grin melted off her face as if affected by the bright sunlight. She paled.

"Oh, my angel of the sea! I am delighted- no, honored!- to hear such words from you!"

The fawning admiration was unmistakable. Mel didn't bother (or dare) to turn around and check.

"I see what you mean. The people practically worship you," Ace commented while chomping contentedly on a rather large piece of smoked ham. He did not seem at all alarmed at the fast recovery of the marine captain.

Captain Everard was in a particularly good mood- he was anything but a sore loser, and was apparently quite happy about having met a worthy opponent in the fire-wielding pirate. That, and the love of his life had finally appeared in all her blue eyed glory- the main reason why he had managed to recover so quickly. It was less than an hour ago that the festivities had begun.

"Stay with me, my beauty, and you shall make me the happiest luchador alive!" the marine captain exclaimed with what could only be described as a joyful _twirl_.

Mel stared, her mouth slightly open in awe. Ace forgot to chew for a moment.

"On second thought…we… really… need… to _go_," she muttered numbly as the pirate began to cough in an attempt to laugh with a mouthful of food.

"Oh no, my lady," Everard replied, shaking his head and slapping Ace's shoulder in a good-natured way, "This fellow here won't be able to leave while we're having a fiesta in his honor!"

"Sounds good to me," said the pirate, ignoring the painful handprint on his shoulder and focusing on a giant drumstick.

Mel's shoulders sagged in silent despair. Then she remembered something-

"Wait- what about Blackbeard?"

* * *

The newly arrived marines stood, quite speechless, at the town entrance.

"This is… err…" one of them said, scratching his head. His words were drowned out by all the music.

Orange hats everywhere; men in colorful masks, shirtless and mostly muscular- women covering their heads with equally colorful scarves- everybody dancing, eating, drinking, laughing. Finding someone in this crowd -even if that someone did have blue hair- would be like trying to locate a needle in a giant pile of multi-colored straw.

Senior Officer Gray took a deep breath.

"NYYAAARRGHHH!!!"

-to be continued-

* * *

**Comments: **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tip your hats to Lunar D. Hayase! You've got her to thank for this update, which might have come a lot later otherwise.

This is what I'm going to do to ensure a steadier rate of updating this fic: I demand suggestions from YOU! Yes, you.

In your review that you're obviously about to start writing, include a suggestion for a completely new arc! It can be related to the actual One Piece canon (though nothing too recent… I have yet to start reading the mermaid island arc), or, preferably, something totally random!

An example would be… well, if I had a fresh example, I wouldn't be asking for help. This whole Lucha Town arc went on for 4 whole chapters (and I still have to wrap it up)! And it all stemmed from a random word that someone gave me for inspiration. I think it was 'men-in-masks'… or something like that. That's a beautiful example right there.

Show me your collective power of imagination! Review now!


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